THE  MYSTERY  02 
BONANZA  TRAIL 


The  MYSTERY  OF 
BONANZA  TRAIL 


"Do  you  see  that  man  coming 
doivn  the  trail?" — See  page  30. 


The  MYSTERY  OF 
BONANZA  TRAIL 


By    F  R  A  N  K          A  R  K  I  N  S 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 
By  J.  RICHARD  PARRY 


DENVER 

THE  GENERAL  PUBLISHING  SYNDICATE 
PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  J9JO,  by 
The  General  Publishing  Syndicate 


Press  of 

The  Union  Printing  Company 
Denver,  Colo* 


)747<f 

Library 


Contents 

or 


CHAP.  PAGE. 

L— The  First  Brush 21 

IL— Fighting  Fire  With  Fire 32 

III.— Forced  to  the  Wall 41 

^         IV. — The  Mexican  Venture 49 

V. — The  Delusion  and  the  Dog  Faced  Man ...  64 

VI.— The  Master  Stroke 72 

VII. — An  Underground  Railroad 87 

VIII. — Jumping  the  Golden  Moon 95 

IX.— The  Man  Eater 109 

X.— Sherman's  Tragic  Death 117 


DEDICATION 

This  story  is  the  unvarnished 
tale  of  some  of  the  experiences 
common  to  the  average  prospector 
who  strikes  it  rich  in  the  hills. 
He  is  the  man  who  blazes  the 
way  for  civilization  and  to  him 
this  book  is  dedicated. 

F.  J.  ARKINS. 


Xtst  of  flllustratfons 


"Do  you  see  that  man  coming  down  the 

trail  ?" Frontispiece 

Hennessey  jumped  one  of  the  descending 
tram  buckets  and  was  soon  swinging 
dizzily  over  the  gulch Fronting  page  84 

"Never  mind,  little  girl,"  Simpson  said, 
"they  ain't  nobody  going  to  get  this 
here  claim  from  you" Fronting  page  106 


THE  MYSTERY  OF 
BONANZA  TRAIL 


preface 


Bonanza  Trail  is  a  pathway  over  the  mountain 
leading  from  the  north  to  the  south  side  of  a  titanic 
uplift  that  adjoins  the  main  range.  The  gap  through 
which  it  passes  reaches  an  altitude  of  11,000  feet  above 
sea  level.  From  that  point  to  the  creek  bottom  on  the 
south,  the  Trail  drops  abruptly  to  the  deep  gulch  that 
gradually  widens  from  a  pass  to  a  beautiful  valley, 
and  finally  is  lost  in  the  desert  miles  and  miles  away. 

The  Trail,  after  leaving  the  saddle,  hugs  the  side 
of  the  Ascension  range,  on  the  left,  following  a  great 
dyke  of  volcanic  rock,  spewed  up  during  a  throe  of 
nature  in  the  early  making  of  the  world.  The  side  of 
the  mountain,  as  far  as  the  line  of  vision  extends,  is  a 
monotonous  sea  of  broken  andesite,  sharp  and  jagged. 
There  is  not  a  tree  on  the  side  of  this  towering  mass, 
not  a  sign  of  vegetation.  One  must  follow  the  dyke, 
for  to  cross  on  the  slide  would  mean  death.  Occasion 
ally  it  slips  and  moves,  when  thousands  of  tons  of 


Page  16 The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

broken  rock  grind  and  tumble  and  roll  downward, 
and  falls  at  an  angle  of  almost  seventy  degrees  to  the 
point  where  Contention  Creek  flows,  a  mile  below. 

The  Consolidated  Group  was  located  along  this 
old  trail,  which  the  Indians  used  long  before  the 
white  man  came.  The  mill  below  was  separated  from 
the  main  territory  by  ground  owned  by  Sherman's 
enemies,  else  he  could  have  driven  in  a  tunnel,  and 
undercut  the  ore  bodies. 

Above  the  Consolidated  Group,  the  top  of  Ascension 
mountain  was  covered  with  a  perpetual  coat  of  snow. 
Beneath  yawned  the  deep  chasm.  On  a  small  tract  of 
the  ground  behind  the  protecting  wall  of  a  dyke,  the 
mine  buildings  were  located.  The  rail  on  the  porch  of 
the  Consolidated  boarding  house  ran  well  over  the  edge 
of  the  precipice,  five  thousand  feet  above  the  tumul 
tuous  little  creek  that  wound  its  way  almost  to  the  shaft 
house,  and  then  turned  through  a  dark  gorge,  and, 
following  a  dyke,  plunged  outward,  and  fell,  in  spray 
like  millions  of  crystals.  The  fall  and  the  creek  were 
not,  however,  on  Sherman's  portion  of  the  ground,  else 
he  could  have  utilized  it  for  power. 

Below  was  a  little  settlement,  the  terminus  of  the 
railroad,  and  the  point  from  which  supplies  were 


Preface  Page  17 

freighted  up  the  steep  trail  on  the  backs  of  burros. 
The  winters,  on  this  bleak  hillside,  were  terrible.  For 
miles  it  is  exposed  to  the  attack  of  the  elements,  and 
on  it  wind  and  rain  and  snow  beat  with  unrelenting 
fury.  Snowslides  were  frequent,  and  claimed  an  annual 
toll  of  human  life.  Such  is  the  section  known  as  the 
Bonanza  Trail,  beneath  which  nature  has  hidden  mil 
lions  in  treasure,  which  Sherman  was  battling  to 
obtain. 

Contention  Creek  tumbles  down  one  of  the  roughest 
mountains  in  the  world,  where  it  merges  with  another 
turbulent,  noisy  stream.  From  the  point  where  the 
snow  melts  into  little  rivulets,  and  the  water  percolates 
through  the  loose  slide  rock  that  sloughs  down  the 
steep  hillsides,  to  form  the  tiny  course  that  grows  in 
volume  as  it  descends  the  hill,  it  is  a  constant  battle. 
The  water  dashes  with  fury  against  an  immense  granite 
boulder,  as  large  as  a  city  building,  churns  and  foams, 
and  is  tossed  in  great  clouds  of  spray  that  are  driven 
by  the  wind  against  the  mountain  side.  This  stream 
crosses  the  upper  end  of  the  Bonanza  Trail,  an  old 
roadway  over  which  the  gold-seekers  passed  in  the 
pioneer  days  in  their  quest  for  fortune.  The  creek 
tumbles  through  a  deep  gorge,  then  runs  over  a  wide 


Page  18  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

expanse  of  almost  flat  granite  floor,  which  has  been 
polished  by  the  constant  passage  of  the  water.  Then 
it  roars  over  a  bed  of  broken,  gnarled  volcanic  rock, 
where  it  boils  and  eddies  in  terrific  combat,  to  emerge 
into  a  steep  channel,  through  which  it  swiftly  flows, 
gathering  strength  for  a  mighty  leap  over  a  cliff,  down 
which  it  plunges  a  full  mile,  spreading  out  like  a 
beautiful  bridal  veil.  The  water  strikes  the  bottom 
where  a  gigantic  punch  bowl  has  been  worn  by  the 
impact  through  thousands  of  years,  overflows  the  sides, 
and  descends  noisily,  by  a  series  of  alternate  rapids 
and  falls,  to  a  serpentine  course  that  it  has  worn 
through  the  rocky  chasm,  now  forcing  itself  against 
one  side,  then  the  other,  now  advancing,  and  at  points 
receding,  angrily,  in  its  passage  from  the  summit  to 
the  sea. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Ube  jfftst  JStusb 

Sherman  had  been  swindled. 

Had  he  pursued  the  methods  common  in  business 
life,  he  could  have  avoided  much  of  his  trouble.  But 
he  was  not  a  common  man. 

He  had  been  victimized  by  a  gang  of  sharpers,  who 
sold  him  a  vast  tract  of  mining  territory  on  which  few 
would  care  to  risk  a  dollar. 

These  men  owned  ground  they  were  afraid  to  ex 
ploit — and  they  had  adopted  underhand  means  to  have 
it  developed,  at  the  expense  of  Sherman.  They  sold  it 
on  time,  and  so  hampered  the  purchaser  with  condi 
tions  that,  if  he  succeeded,  they  would  stand  nine 
chances  out  of  ten  in  taking  the  property  away  from 
him. 

The  ground  had  been  sold  a  dozen  times  in  as  many 
years,  and  developed,  partially,  at  the  expense  of  others, 
and  several  fortunes  had  been  dissipated. 


Page  22 The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

Sherman,  a  rough  man,  was  the  product  of  his  en 
vironment.  He  was  proud,  generous  with  his  friends, 
close  in  personal  affairs,  melancholy,  and,  presumably, 
rich.  He  came  into  the  Ascension  Mountain  district 
several  years  before,  from  the  East,  and  his  seemed  to 
be  the  hand  of  Midas.  His  success  was  wonderful. 
Like  a  great  many  uneducated  men,  he  possessed  an 
intuitive  knowledge  of  affairs.  Because  of  his  luck,  his 
opinion  as  to  the  value  of  a  mine  was  highly  rated. 
But  the  group  was  a  sink  hole.  Its  owners  had  fleeced 
many  an  unwary  man.  Every  opening  on  the  property 
had  its  story  of  disappointment  and  penury. 

They  sold  him  a  group  of  claims  that  lay  diago 
nally  across  the  mountain,  like  the  backbone  of  a 
gigantic  fish,  the  ribs  representing  the  claims  that  con 
nected  with  the  main  strip,  or  central  bone.  The  spaces 
between  belonged  to  the  people  from  whom  he  had 
purchased.  And  therein  was  the  danger.  He  was  of 
the  impression  that  he  had  purchased  a  compact  tract 
of  ground,  for  he  had  neglected  to  engage  the  services 
of  an  examining  engineer  to  verify  the  representations 
of  the  owners. 

It  was  a  swindle,  clear  and  simple.  Everybody 
knew  it,  except  Sherman.  As  he  was  not  seeking  ad- 


The  First  Brush  Page  23 

vice,  and  resented  interference,  the  community  kept 
silent  and  awaited  development.  The  sale  was  heralded 
far  and  wide.  "Lucky"  Sherman,  who  had  made  half 
a  dozen  big  stakes,  and  kept  every  one,  had  bought  the 
Consolidated  Group,  on  the  Bonanza  Trail.  He  paid 
$80,000  down,  and  agreed  to  pay  $80,000  semi-annually 
until  a  total  of  $800,000  had  been  paid.  And  while 
doing  this  he  agreed  by  contract  to  sink  a  shaft  1,000 
feet,  at  the  rate  of  250  feet  a  year. 

It  was  the  expectation  of  the  sharpers  that  at  depth 
a  body  of  rich  ore  would  be  developed,  and  that  by 
that  time  Sherman  would  have  so  exhausted  his  means 
that  the  property  would  revert  to  them.  If  he  encount 
ered  bonanza  ore  close  to  the  surface,  they  relied  upon 
the  contiguous  ground  they  held  as  vehicles  to  actions 
at  law,  to  wear  him  out  in  the  courts. 

Everybody  understood  it — except  Sherman.  It  was 
a  barefaced  trick,  and  the  fact  that  he  was  considered 
the  shrewdest  trader  and  closest  dealer  in  the  district, 
made  the  deal  the  more  amazing. 

This  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  I  was  in 
vited  to  associate  myself  with  the  enterprise,  in  an 
advisory  capacity. 

Sherman  was  the  laughing  stock  of  the  country. 


Page  2b  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

It  was  rumored  that  he  had  expended  nearly  every 
dollar  he  possessed  in  the  work  he  had  carried  on,  and 
while  everybody  in  the  district  knew  he  had  been  de 
frauded,  he  seemed  perfectly  satisfied. 

All  this  I  learned  the  first  day  I  arrived  on  the 
Bonanza  Trail. 

I  advised  him  to  quit — to  write  it  all  off  as  a  bad 
investment,  but  he  would  not  heed  the  warning. 

"You  are  here  to  give  advice  as  to  the  development 
of  this  property — not  with  regard  to  my  personal 
affairs,"  he  said. 

This  was  the  only  wall  between  us — for  we  grew  to 
be  fast  and  trusted  friends. 

He  was  confident  that  great  ore  bodies  existed  at 
depth.  I  thought  so,  too,  but  he  was  so  hedged  in  by 
conflicting  property,  and  the  chances  of  litigation  were 
so  great,  that,  it  seemed  to  me,  he  would  be  wiped  out 
on  the  very  threshold  of  success. 

He  acquiesced,  quietly  and  without  murmur,  in  the 
costly  plan  of  work  outlined,  and  after  a  few  months, 
at  a  depth  of  400  feet,  on  the  Treasure  claim,  we  cut  a 
small  stringer  of  ore  that  returned  sensational  values. 
Sherman  thought  that  we  had  encountered  the  Great 
Bonanza  vein — I  was  of  the  opinion  that  it  was  merely 


The  First  Brush  Page  25 

a  stringer  leading  to  it,  for  it  widened  as  we  drifted  on 
it.  We  commenced  to  ship  the  ore  down  the  mountain 
on  the  backs  of  burros,  which  he  called  our  "Inter- 
^urro  Service."  The  streak  widened,  until  we  were 
sending  down  a  carload  of  ore  daily;  and  until  the 
mine  was  paid  for,  a  percentage  of  the  net  proceeds 
had  to  go  to  the  sellers. 

The  Bombshell  shaft,  owned  by  the  men  who  had 
sold  the  Consolidated  Group  to  Sherman,  adjoined  the 
main  strip  of  land  at  this  point,  and  connected  with  the 
claim  we  were  working. 

As  the  bottom  of  our  shaft  was  150  feet  lower  than 
the  Bombshell,  in  pumping  from  the  Treasure,  we  kept 
the  other  hole  dry,  at  no  expense  to  the  owners.  So 
they  commenced  work  on  their  claims.  I  surmised  that 
they  were  drifting  toward  the  ore  in  the  Treasure, 
which  was  rather  closer  to  their  shaft  than  to  ours,  and 
was  approached  by  a  long  drift.  When  they  started  to 
ship,  I  was  confident  that  they  were  mining  it  on  our 
side  of  the  line.  The  only  way  to  prove  it  was  to  break 
into  their  workings,  since  M'Cracken,  the  superin 
tendent,  declined  to  let  us  inspect  the  property,  while 
he  had  a  perfect  right  to  enter  ours,  until  the  last  dollar 


Page  26  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

of  the  bond  had  been  paid.  It  was  a  cut-throat  propo 
sition,  and  they  held  the  knife. 

We  commenced  to  drift  toward  them,  with  machine 
drills,  and  one  night,  a  few  weeks  later,  we  broke  into 
their  second  level. 

I  called  on  M'Cracken,  and  explained  that  he  had 
trespassed  on  our  ground.  He  smiled  knowingly — but 
remained  silent.  He  was  a  good  fellow,  and  we  were 
great  friends — but  he  was  guarding  the  interests  of  his 
employers  as  carefully  as  I  was  protecting  Sherman. 

"Personally,"  I  said,  "this  is  downright  robbery, 
Mac." 

"Personally,  old  man,  we  had  better  not  discuss  that 
phase  of  it." 

I  took  the  cue. 

That  night  Sherman  was  served  with  an  order  of 
court  enjoining  him  from  performing  any  further  work 
on  the  north  side  of  the  shaft,  and  a  notice  to  the  effect 
that  an  underground  survey  by  engineers  selected  by 
the  district  judge  would  be  made,  to  determine  to  whom 
the  ore  belonged.  Also  there  was  a  demand  for  an 
accounting  and  a  suit  for  damages. 

They  intended  to  smoke  Sherman  out  in  the  courts, 
and  this  was  the  first  attack. 


The  First  Brush  Page  27 

That  night  Powers,  Sherman's  attorney,  came  up 
from  the  county  seat,  and  looked  over  the  ground. 

"They  haven't  a  ghost  of  a  show/'  was  his  verdict. 
"But  you  know  these  people  have  a  vast  amount  of 
money,  they  employ  brilliant  legal  talent,  they  are  un 
scrupulous  and  they  are  as  corrupt  as  they  are  wealthy. 
They  intend,  now  that  you  have  opened  rich  ore,  to  steal 
back  the  mine.  They  will  wear  you  out  in  the  courts, 
for  they  are  resourceful." 
We  looked  at  each  other. 

"The  survey  will  show  that  the  ore  belongs  to 
Sherman,"  I  said. 

"It  may.  It  doubtless  will.  They  are  fighting  for 
time — piling  up  costs  on  Sherman,  who  relies  on  the 
ore  to  meet  his  payments." 

"I  will  attend  to  the  financial  end,  Powers,"  said 
Sherman,  dryly.  "Confine  yourself  to  the  legal  aspect 
of  the  case." 

"They  may  claim  an  apex.*  The  case  will  drag 
along  for  years." 


*This  is  the  law  that  governs  extra-lateral  rights,  in  that 
it  usually  permits  the  discoverer  at  its  highest  point  of  out 
crop  to  follow  and  mine  the  ore  from  the  vein,  providing  he 
does  not  pass  beyond  his  endlines. 


Page  28  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

"But  if  the  shaft  was  filled  with  water,"  I  com 
menced — and  then  caught  myself. 

"Out  with  it,"  commanded  Powers. 

"We  are  pumping  1,200  gallons  of  water  a  minute. 
If  we  stopped  the  pumps,  the  shaft  would  be  filled  to 
the  collar  by  daylight,  and — can  they  make  us  pump  ?'* 

Powers  threw  back  his  head  and  laughed,  and 
slapped  his  leg. 

"They  can  order  the  survey,"  he  said,  "and  they 
can  make  it — but  not  with  the  mine  full  of  water." 

"Can  they  compel  us  to  run  our  pumps  ?" 

"If  we  choose  to  save  money,  no  court  can  compel 
us  to  spend  it.  We  don't  propose  to  operate  those 
pumps.  Let  them  make  the  survey." 

I  shouted  to  Larsen,  the  superintendent,  and  twen 
ty-five  minutes  later  we  had  stopped  and  were  pulling 
the  big  sinker  pump  from  the  hole,  and  the  men  had 
been  ordered  out  of  the  shaft,  which  was  now  rapidly 
filling  with  water. 

The  next  morning  M'Cracken,  with  several  sur 
veyors  and  the  owners  of  the  Bombshell,  appeared  on 
the  Trail.  Sherman  gave  Powers  a  rifle,  and,  pointing 
up  the  gulch  down  which  Contention  Creek  tumbled, 
said: 


The  First  Brush  Page  29 

"You  go  up  there  and  hunt  whales." 

"Whales?" 

"Yes ;  they  are  very  annoying  to  the  settlers.    I'll 
stay  here  and  catch  wolves." 

Powers  smiled,  and  started  up  the  trail. 

M'Cracken  appeared. 

"We  have  come  to  make  a  survey  of  your  under 
ground  workings,"  he  said.    "May  we  proceed?" 

''You  may,"  answered  Sherman. 

They  went  over  to  the  shaft  house,  and  after  a  few 
moments  M'Cracken  returned,  smiling. 

"The  fires  under  your  boilers  are  out,"  he  said,  ad 
dressing  Sherman. 

"They  are,"  was  the  indifferent  answer. 

"The  mine  is  full  of  water." 

"It  is." 

"That,  Sherman,  is  a  very  serious  matter,"  said 
M'Cracken,  weighing  every  word. 

"I  agree  with  you,"  was  the  quiet  rejoinder. 

"What,"  asked  M'Cracken,  "do  you  intend  to  do 
about  it?" 

"For  reply,  permit  me  to  ask  you  the  same  ques 
tion." 

Then  the  owners  came  forward,  and  entered  into  a 


Page  30  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

conference  with  Sherman.  They  threatened,  and,  with 
their  lawyers,  who  were  present,  bullied,  but  Sherman 
was  undisturbed.  There  was  no  more  expression  to  his 
face  than  to  a  piece  of  brown  paper. 

They  had  set  a  trap  for  him,  and  had  walked  into  it 
themselves — and  they  knew  it. 

After  several  hours  of  talk,  one  of  them  suggested 
consolidation.  Sherman  declined  flatly  to  listen  to  it. 
Asked  for  a  proposition,  he  answered : 

"I  offer  you  one  of  two  alternatives.  You  may  give 
me  a  deed  to  the  Bombshell,  or,  you  may  defend  a  suit 
for  trespass,  damages,  an  accounting — and,  some  more. 
You  may  keep  the  ore  you  have  stolen,  and  I  shall  make 
no  claim  for  that.  I  shall  enjoin  you  from  oper 
ating  any  property  intersecting  the  Great  Bonanza 
vein." 

"But  suppose — "  one  of  them  commenced. 

"Do  you  see  that  man  coming  down  the  trail?" 
asked  Sherman,  pointing  to  Powers,  who  was  stum 
bling  toward  us. 

"Yes." 

"He  is  my  attorney — tell  your  troubles  to  him." 
Saying  which  he  entered  the  Consolidated  office,  and 
closed  the  door. 


The  First  Brush  Page  31 

An  hour  later  the  papers  had  been  drawn  up  and 
signed.  Sherman  had  won  the  first  brush  with  the 
enemy,  but  he  started  a  conflict  that  was  to  burn  a  mil 
lion  dollars  and  that  eventually  cost  him  his  life. 


CHAPTER  II. 


jffre  Witb  fffre 


"Well,  I  paid  those  vultures  $80,000  yesterday,  and 
now  I  guess  they  will  leave  me  alone  for  a  time,"  said 
Sherman  one  evening,  after  we  had  checked  up  the 
day's  work  underground. 

He  had  hardly  ceased  to  speak  when  the  telephone 
rang,  and  he  unhooked  the  receiver. 

I  heard  him  say  "yes"  several  times,  then  "no,"  in  a 
quiet,  decided  way,  and  closed  the  conversation. 

Turning  to  me,  he  said,  evenly  : 

"Stop  work  east  of  the  shaft,  draw  the  fires  and  pull 
the  pumps."  After  which  he  walked  unconcernedly 
out  into  the  open  air. 

I  motioned  through  the  door  to  Larsen  and  told 
him,  and,  after  glancing  at  Sherman  a  moment,  he  ven 
tured  : 


Fighting  Fire  With  Fire  Page  33 

"I  tank,  Sherman,  he  bane  troubled." 
The  news  spread,  and  there  was  a  buzz  of  excite 
ment,  but  not  in  Sherman's  presence.  After  gazing  at 
the  snow-white  tops  of  the  Ascension  range,  he  re 
turned  to  the  office,  lighted  a  cigar,  and  after  smoking 
a  while  in  silence,  said: 

''Wolves  have  an  insatiable  appetite.  Particularly 
the  human  brand.  Give  them  money,  it  fevers  them, 
and  thereafter  they  trample  down  others  to  attain  that 
which  does  not  belong  to  them.  We  beat  those  fellows 
fair  and  square,  in  that  Bombshell  deal.  We  caught 
them  red-handed,  and  really  allowed  them  to  get  away 
with  the  plunder,  taking  only  a  barren  piece  of  ground 
in  return.  Now  they  have  filed  suit  against  me  from 
the  Alligator,  east  of  us,  claiming  an  apex,  and  demand 
an  accounting,  seek  damages,  and  so  on.  That  was 
their  lawyer  talking  over  the  'phone.  He  wanted  me  to 
accept  service  that  way — I  declined.  However,  I  have 
stopped  work,  for  the  reason  that,  as  they  wish  to  obtain 
an  underground  survey,  and  may  make,  by  some  hocus 
pocus,  an  attempt  to  force  me  to  keep  the  shaft  dry,  I 
have  decided  to  take  no  chances  against  the  law,  and 
will  let  the  hole  fill  up  with  water  before  they  get  here. 


Page  34  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

So  I  look  for  a  society  call  on  the  part  of  a  deputy 
sheriff  pretty  pronto/' 

This  was  bad  news.  We  were  preparing  for  a  big 
production.  The  Treasure  shaft  had  been  unwatered, 
and  heavier  pumps  installed  to  meet  the  increasing 
flow.  Sherman  had  paid  another  installment  on  the 
mine,  and,  while  he  did  not  say  as  much,  I  fancied  he 
was  close  run  for  money,  for  there  were  a  great  many 
'phone  calls  to  the  bank  at  the  county  seat,  and  an  un 
usual  number  of  letters  from  outside  financial  houses. 
We  were  preparing  to  enter  an  era  of  profitable  pro 
duction,  when  this  new  litigation  fell.  He  called  up 
his  attorney  and  the  following  morning  Powers  was  on 
the  ground.  After  a  conference,  he  said: 

"We  can  win — but  it  will  be  a  terrible  battle,  old 
man." 

While  we  were  discussing  it,  a  deputy  sheriff  rode 
up  the  Trail  and  served  Sherman  with  papers  which 
enjoined  him  from  all  work  of  any  kind  whatsoever,  on 
all  of  the  claims  that  intersected  the  Great  Bonanza 
vein,  and  an  order  forbidding  him  to  cease  pumping 
water  until  an  examination  of  the  underground  work 
ings  of  the  Treasure  claim  could  be  made.  Of  course, 
they  had  not  stated  in  the  call  over  the  wires  that  such 


Fighting  Fire  With  Fire  Page  35 

was  the  order,  but  Sherman  anticipated  it  by  his  shrewd 
guess,  and  he  could  not  be  held  accountable,  for  the 
reason  that  he  had  not  been  served  or  even  notified,  for 
that  matter,  that  such  was  the  case.  This  order 
was  granted  ex-parte.  Not  even  Powers  had  heard  of 
it  when  he  left  the  county  seat,  for  the  case  was  pre 
sented  in  chambers.  In  addition  they  claimed  an  apex 
on  every  claim  which  crossed  the  Great  Bonanza  dike, 
and  this  effectually  tied  him.  In  other  words,  they 
claimed  to  have  opened  the  same  veins  at  points  higher 
up  on  the  hill,  and,  under  the  law  in  such  cases,  they 
were  entitled  to  all  the  ore  below  them,  if  they  proved 
their  contention.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  such  was  not  the 
case,  but  it  was  a  method  of  sewing  Sherman  up,  of 
grinding  him  to  poverty,  as  others  have  been  ruined 
before,  until  they  could  gain  possession  of  the  prop 
erty,  either  through  his  failure  to  meet  the  payments, 
or,  in  the  event  he  did,  by  wearing  him  out  in  the 
courts." 

"We  must  hunt  for  ore  along  the  Bonanza  dike," 
said  Sherman. 

"Well,"  replied  Powers,  "anything  you  find  there 
cannot  be  apexed — that  is  some  satisfaction." 

The  claims  along  the  dike  adjoined,  parallel,  three 


Page  36  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

wide,  and  the  Bonanza  vein  traversed  the  central  zone, 
so  that  he  was  protected  by  his  own  property  from  out 
side  litigation.  But  the  Bonanza  vein  was  an  immense 
dike  of  low  grade  material,  running  almost  north  and 
south,  while  the  claims  carrying  the  smelting  ore 
coursed  northeast  and  southwest,  and  were  rich  at  the 
points  of  junction  with  the  dike. 

"We  have  the  ore,"  I  told  Sherman,  "but  it  is  of 
too  low  grade  to  send  down  hill  by  burro.  If  we  had  a 
water  right,  and  a  mill  site  on  the  creek,  we  could  build 
an  aerial  tram,  send  the  ore  down  by  gravity,  concen 
trate  it,  ship  it  to  the  smelter  and  make  a  profit  of  a 
dollar  or  two  a  ton.  I  believe  I  might  get  out  a  couple 
of  hundred  tons  daily — " 

«  "We'll  do  that,"  interrupted  Sherman,  with  as  much 
confidence  as  though  the  mill  could  be  ordered  tonight 
and  be  in  place  in  the  morning. 

"But,"  I  hastened  to  add,  "it  will  take  months  to 
develop  the  low  grade  ore  body,  build  the  mill  and 
tramway,  and  extend  up  the  railway  tracks,  and  we 
have  not  even  the  scratch  of  a  pen  toward  the  drawing 
for  the  mill,  much  less  the  preliminary  metallurgical 
work  to  determine  the  type  required." 

"That's  all  right,"  was  the  short  answer.    "Instruct 


Fighting  Fire  With  Fire Page  37 

Larsen  on  the  way  the  work  is  to  be  done,  make  your 
tests  as  you  go  along,  and  I'll  furnish  the  money — only, 
rush  the  mill.'5 

I  knew  that  Sherman  was  sailing  close  to  the  wind, 
that  he  had  nerve  and  lots  of  it,  but  this  was  the  coolest 
exhibition  I  had  seen,  for  here  he  was  actually  planning 
to  spend  $250,000,  not  knowing  what  new  danger  beset 
him. 

"About  the  water?" 

"I  own  a  water  right — bought  it  of  a  farmer." 

"Is  it  valid?" 

"I  said  I  owned  it,  didn't  I?" 

There  was  no  use  arguing.  If  he  was  wrong,  we 
should  find  it  out  at  the  most  embarrassing  moment, 
and  he  would  foot  the  bill,  if  he  was  not  a  bankrupt  by 
that  time. 

The  next  morning  we  started  a  new  shaft,  on  the 
only  portion  of  the  ground  that  was  or  could  be  litiga 
tion  free,  on  a  grade  of  ore  so  low  that  it  would  keep 
us  watching  the  corners  to  remain  on  the  right  side  of 
the  ledger,  and  at  the  very  moment  when  we  were 
running  behind  at  an  enormous  rate — yet  $250,000  in 
money  and  nearly  a  year  of  time  would  be  consumed 
before  we  could  get  a  dollar  back. 


Page  38  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

While  we  were  carrying  on  this  work,  news  came 
of  a  sensational  strike  of  ore  in  the  Alligator  shaft, 
which  flanked  the  Treasure  claim  on  the  east,  for  Sher 
man,  in  the  weeks  that  had  passed  since  the  filing  of 
these  suits,  had  taken  no  action  toward  checkmating  his 
enemies.  Powers  advised  it,  but  he  said  he  had  decided 
upon  a  waiting  policy.  When  he  heard  of  the  strike, 
he  called  up  the  lawyer  on  the  long  distance,  and 
bidding  him  come  up  to  the  mine  that  night,  hung  up 
the  'phone. 

I  met  him  on  the  Trail. 

"What's  up?"  he  asked. 

"I  don't  know,"  I  answered,  and  I  did  not. 

Sherman  took  the  lawyer  into  his  private  office,  and 
from  the  length  of  time  that  they  were  closeted  his 
instructions  must  have  been  very  short.  Sherman  always 
instructed — he  never  sought  or  accepted  advice.  As 
Powers  was  Sherman's  attorney,  not  mine,  he  kept  his 
mouth  shut.  My  instructions  were  to  tell  the  lawyer 
and  no  one  else,  all  I  knew  about  the  mine,  while  his 
instructions  were  to  tell  me  nothing  about  Sherman's 
litigation.  Something  was  in  the  wind ;  what  it  was,  I 
did  not  know. 

The   next  morning   Sherman  went   down  to  the 


Fighting  Fire  With  Fire  Page  39 

county  seat.  That  afternoon  he  called  me  up  by  'phone, 
and  said: 

"I  am  going  away  for  a  month  or  so.  I  have  left 
some  cash  here,  subject  to  your  check,  to  meet 
expenses.  Come  down  in  the  morning  and  leave  your 
signature  at  the  bank — Powers  will  identify  you.  In 
the  meantime,  get  out  the  plans  for  the  mill,  get  every 
thing  ready,  bids,  and  so  forth.  When  I  come  back 
you'll  hear  from  me,"  and  he  hung  up  the  'phone. 

I  felt  satisfied  that  he  was  going  away  to  raise 
more  money,  with  which  to  carry  on  his  battle  in  the 
courts. 

About  an  hour  later  one  of  the  shift  bosses  came  in 
and  said,  excitedly: 

"There's  something  the  matter  at  the  Alligator. 
They  have  paid  off  their  entire  crew  and  shut  down." 

"What?" 

Not  only  that,  but  all  of  the  shafts  belonging  to 
Sherman's  enemies  that  were  producing  ore  had  ceased 
operation. 

He  had  filed  counter-suits  against  them,  asked  for 
an  accounting  of  all  ore  mined,  sought  damages,  and 
obtained  a  temporary  order  restraining  them  from 
doing  any  work.  He  had  filed  a  bond  of  tremendous 


Page  40  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

amount,  and  when  he  had  done  that,  he  was  pretty 
close  to  bedrock.  Then  he  quietly  disappeared. 

He  was  fighting  a  band  of  rogues,  and  was  giving 
them  a  dose  of  their  own  medicine. 

His  was  the  only  property  on  the  Bonanza  Trail 
that  was  operating;  it  was  going  full  blast — and  at  a 
dead  loss. 

Thus  we  were  plunged  into  a  storm  of  litigation  of 
such  a  complicated  character  that  the  hand  of  paralysis 
had  been  laid  over  the  most  promising  mining  section 
of  the  county. 


CHAPTER  III. 


jforceft  to  tbe  Mall 

After  several  months  of  delay,  the  mill  was  com 
pleted.  It  only  remained  now  to  finish  the  tram  line,  in 
order  to  commence  grinding  the  ore  we  had  blocked  out 
in  the  mine  above. 

Should  this  mill  prove  to  be  a  success,  it  meant  the 
salvation  of  the  district,  for  it  would  demonstrate  that 
certain  classes  of  low  grade  ore  could  be  handled  at  a 
profit.  But  it  was  a  rich  man's  game.  On  the  success 
of  Sherman's  venture  a  dozen  others  hung.  The  aerial 
tram  that  conveyed  the  ore  from  the  mine  was  a  mile 
long,  and  was  suspended  from  steel  towers.  It  crossed 
deep  gulches,  vast  stretches  of  volcanic  slide  rock,  and 
sometimes  the  ore  buckets  swung  more  than  3,000  feet 
above  an  arroya.  The  buckets  were  loaded  and  emp 
tied  automatically,  the  descending  loaded  bringing 


Page  42  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

back  the  ascending  empty  buckets,  in  a  parallel  line. 
The  ore  bins  at  the  mine  had  been  full  for  months, 
and  as  soon  as  the  wire  cables  had  been  tested,  we 
commenced  to  send  the  product  down  the  hill  to  fill 
the  bins  at  the  mill,  for  in  a  plant  of  this  size  it  was 
necessary  to  have  enough  ore  behind  the  crushers  to 
run  ninety  days.  Then,  if  anything  happened  to  the 
tram,  the  plant  could  continue  to  grind  without  inter 
ruption,  until  the  break  was  repaired. 

When  this  work  was  completed,  we  commenced  to 
send  ore  to  the  breakers,  then  to  the  concentrators,  in 
which  the  rock  was  washed  out  of  the  pulverized  mass, 
on  shaking  tables,  the  heavier  particles,  containing 
the  mineral,  remaining  behind.  Thus,  the  mineral 
contents  of  fifteen  tons  were  concentrated  into  one  ton. 
In  this  manner  we  saved  the  freight  and  smelting 
charges  on  fourteen  tons  of  ore.  While  one  ton  would 
not  pay  expenses,  if  sent  alone,  by  this  method  we 
could  effect  a  saving  of  about  one  dollar  to  the  ton  of 
ore  mined.  In  other  words,  the  concentrated  ton 
would  pay  a  profit. 

The  mill  was  operated  by  water,  while  the  subsid 
iary  power  was  electric,  and  from  it  we  supplied  elec 
tricity  to  the  mine,  doing  away  with  steam  on  the  hill, 


Forced  to  the  Wall  Page  43 

and  the  enormous  cost  of  freighting  fuel  up  on  the 
backs  of  pack  animals. 

Just  as  we  were  preparing  to  extend  the  spur  of 
the  railroad  track  to  the  mill,  our  enemies  appeared, 
and  fought  the  right  of  way,  for  they  had  purchased 
ground  in  our  path,  and  we  were  delayed  until  it  could 
be  condemned. 

We  had  been  running  less  than  a  week,  when  we 
were  served  with  an  order  of  court  to  cease  using  the 
water  of  the  Farmers  Co-Operative  Water  Company. 
Powers  came  up  to  investigate.  He  read  Sherman's 
papers  conveying  the  water  right,  after  which  he  tore 
his  hair,  and,  pacing  the  floor  like  a  madman,  raved : 

"Oh,  Sherman,  you  are  one  vast  damn  fool." 

Sherman  said  nothing.  He  had  made  a  mistake — 
he  knew  that,  or  Powers  would  not  have  dared  to  talk 
that  way.  In  his  loose  method  of  doing  business,  he 
had  bought,  from  an  individual,  a  water  right  belong 
ing  to  a  company.  The  right  was  meaningless  and 
void. 

"What's  the  matter  with  the  bill  of  sale?"  he  asked. 

"What's  the  matter  with  it?  Oh,  hear  him!  What  is 
the  matter  with  it?  What  is  right  about  it?  What 
good  is  it?  It  is  not  worth  the  paper  it  is  written  on. 


Page  44  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

It  conveys  nothing — does  not  specify,  explain,  locate 
or  stipulate.  Does  not  say  whether  the  water  right 
is  in  the  United  States,  or  in  Asia,  whether  for  ten 
inches  a  second  or  four  oceans  a  century.  Sherman, 
you  are  an  ass — a  big,  overgrown,  blundering  idiot. 
You  own  no  water.  Why  didn't  you  let  me  see  this 
paper  before  you  started  to  build  the  mill — " 

"When  you  get  over  your  excitement,  Powers/' 
said  Sherman,  his  voice  coldly  even,  "we  will  get  at 
the  legal  aspect  of  the  case.  Where  do  I  stand  ?" 

"This  fellow  has  defrauded  you.  We  will  have 
him  arrested—" 

"We  will  do  nothing  of  the  kind,"  replied  Sherman. 
"He  is  a  poor  devil — arresting  him  will  not  help  us. 
We  want  to  go  higher  up — get  the  fellow  who  engi 
neered  the  deal.  We  have  no  time  for  revenge.  We 
want  water,  and  We  want  it  quick.  You  get  busy  and 
report  your  findings  to  me." 

Three  days  later  Powers  saw  Sherman  again.  The 
president  of  the  Farmers  Co-Operative  Water  Com 
pany  was  the  controlling  factor  in  the  corporation  that 
was  warring  on  Sherman,  and  their  attorneys  were  the 
legal  arm  of  the  Co-Operative  concern. 

They  had  cut  the  sand  from  beneath   Sherman's 


Forced  to  the  Wall  Page  45 

feet,  legally  purchased  the  water  right,  and  had  the 
papers  recorded.  Then  they  had  organized  and  had 
taken  the  water  over.  Sherman's  papers,  in  addition 
to  being  worthless,  were  not  even  of  record.  He  had 
not  a  leg  to  stand  on. 

We  were  beaten,  fairly  and  squarely,  though  Sher 
man  forced  Powers  to  go  through  the  farce  of  going 
into  court,  and  insisting  that  we  were  not  using,  but 
were  turning  the  water  back  into  the  stream  after 
sending  it  through  the  mill,  but  the  fact  that  the  other 
crowd  intended  to  carry  it  by  our  plant  in  a  flume,  si 
lenced  the  attorney. 

Bills  were  beginning  to  accumulate.  His  enemies 
had  so  timed  this  blow  that  it  struck  at  a  most  inoppor 
tune  moment.  There  was  money  due  on  the  Consoli 
dated  Group,  and  it  was  on  this  point  that  they  hoped 
to  trap  him,  for  by  a  stipulation  in  his  bond  and  lease 
he  had  agreed,  if  he  failed  in  his  payments,  to  give 
them  all  improvements  in  the  matter  of  machinery,  and 
any  land  he  might  have  acquired  in  connection  with 
the  property.  So,  unless  he  raised  money,  he  would  lose 
everything  he  had  in  the  world,  and  besides,  there  were 
the  unsettled  damage  suits.  It  was  a  terrible  muddle, 


Page  46  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

and  as  he  fought  the  different  battles  in  the  courts, 
Powers'  hair  began  to  turn  gray. 

Even  his  enemies  now  began  to  concede  that  it 
would  be  a  calamity  if  Sherman  lost — he  had  done 
more  for  the  camp  than  any  dozen  men.  He  was 
"square,"  and  from  all  sides  rang  notes  of  genuine 
regret.  The  people  were  only  just  beginning  to  appre 
ciate  him. 

But  Sherman  was  not  seeking  sympathy.  He 
never  indulged  in  self-pity — the  luxury  was  too  ex 
pensive. 

He  spent  considerable  time  in  the  county  seat, 
wrote  numerous  letters,  and  transacted  a  volume  of 
business  by  telegraph,  and  in  cipher. 

At  the  mine  we  were  saving  a  small  streak  of  smelt 
ing  ore,  and  it  little  more  than  paid  expenses.  While 
he  did  not  say  so,  I  knew  that  he  was  grateful. 

Then  he  went  away,  and  was  gone  several  months, 
and  we  lived  in  daily  expectation  of  hearing  that  the 
great  property  had  been  seized  by  the  vandals  who 
were  pursuing  him.  I  received  letters  from  him  from 
time  to  time,  that  contained  little  information  as  to 
what  he  intended  to  do  or  when  he  would  return. 

One  evening,  while  sitting  in  the  office,  wondering 


Forced  to  the  Wall  Page  47 

when  it  would  all  end,  the  telephone  rang  and  Central 
said: 

"County  seat  wants  to  talk  with  you." 

A  moment  later  a  voice  said : 

"I'll  be  up  in  the  morning." 

It  was  Sherman. 

I  thought  everybody  at  the  mine  would  go  wild — 
they  nearly  tore  him  to  pieces.  They  danced  around 
him  like  children.  He  made  no  demonstration.  He 
was  still  the  same  cold,  dignified  man,  and  he  wore 
the  same  mask  of  mystery,  and  appeared,  if  anything, 
more  shabby  than  usual.  His  presence  revived  hopes, 
though  from  different  sources  reports  began  to  filter 
in  that  he  had  simply  returned  to  deliver  over  the 
property — that  he  had  given  up  the  fight.  This  had  a 
depressing  effect,  and  our  feelings  alternated  between 
hope  and  fear.  That  afternoon  he  sent  a  bulky  letter 
down  to  the  bank. 

After  supper,  while  smoking  in  his  little  den,  he 
turned  to  me  and  said : 

"Those  fellows  are  going  into  court  in  the  morning 
with  a  personal  note  of  mine  for  $50,000,  which  they 
have  managed  to  obtain  possession  of.  They  asked  me 
for  the  money  over  the  'phone  this  afternoon.  I  didn't 


Page  48  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

have  it.  They  will  ask  judgment,  and  will  take  it  by 
default,  because  I  won't  be  there.  Then  they  are  going 
to  try  to  levy  on  this  property." 

Sherman  smoked  on  in  silence  for  awhile. 

"Funny,"  he  finally  said,  "how  men  will  go  to  all 
that  trouble  for  nothing." 

Three  or  four  more  puffs. 

"Now,  if  that  money  had  been  due  yesterday,  for 
example,  instead  of  today,  it  might  really  have  been  a 
serious  affair." 

"Serious?    Isn't  it?    What  do  you  mean ?"  I  asked. 

"I  mean,"  he  continued,  slowly,  "that  I  no  longer 
own  the  Consolidated  Group.  It  has  been  transferred 
to  the  Consolidated  Mining,  Exploitation  and  Milling 
Company  in  trust  to  secure  my  Eastern  creditors,  and 
they  are  to  carry  on  the  work  until  such  time  as  I  can 
repay  them.  I  am  to  be  their  new  general  manager, 
though." 

"Yes  ?"  I  said,  for  I  was  burning  with  curiosity. 

"I  mean,"  said  Sherman,  with  the  only  smile  I  had 
ever  seen  on  his  gaunt,  melancholy  face,  "that  I  am 
judgment  proof." 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Ube  flDejican  Venture 

"Well,"  said  Sherman  one  night,  "I  am  going  to 
give  up  the  Mexican  Venture." 

"Mexican  venture?  Never  knew  you  participated 
in  one.  When  were  you  down  there?" 

"Wrong.  The  Mexican  Venture  is  a  mine — here 
in  camp.  I  own  it.  Bought  it  a  couple  of  months  ago. 
Fellow  had  a  row  over  the  ground  with  a  Greaser,  and 
finally  got  possession.  He  named  it  the  Mexican  Ven 
ture.  That  was  several  months  ago.  I  bought  it  then, 
and  now  I  am  going  to  sell  it  for  $150,000." 

"What  did  it  cost  you?" 

"Honestly,  I'm  ashamed  to  tell  it.  I  only  paid 
$25,000  for  the  hole.  Going  some,  eh  ?" 

It  certainly  was,  but  you  would  never  know  it  from 
Sherman's  face. 


Page  50  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

"It  will  solve  all  of  our  financial  difficulties  for  the 
time  being,  and  give  me  money  to  pay  for  the  mill — 
and  other  things." 

There  was  no  need  of  hurrying  him.  After  he  had 
smoked  in  silence  awhile,  he  continued: 

"I  knew  it  was  a  cinch — that  property — for  I  felt 
at  the  time  that  I  was  buying  the  apex  to  the  Vendetta 
— they  are  on  both  sides  of  me,  and  the  leads  they  are 
working  crop  on  the  Mexican  Venture.  How  they 
ever  overlooked  that  strip  of  ground  is  a  mystery  to 
me.  At  any  rate,  its  mine.  Few  days  ago,  I  called  the 
attention  of  the  owners  to  the  matter — politely,  of 
course — and  after  they  had  sent  their  surveyors  over 
the  ground  and  blustered  some,  they  agreed  to  buy  it 
of  me,  if  I  could  deliver  title,  within  nine  months.  Got 
a  signed  contract  from  them  to  that  effect." 

Here  was  another  one  of  those  moves,  which  Sher 
man  always  told  about  afterward.  It  seemed  mighty 
strange  to  me  that  he  could  coolly  walk  up  on  the  Ven 
detta  for  $150,000,  as  he  said  he  was  doing,  and  have 
the  owners  agree  to  his  proposition  without  the  usual 
process  of  establishing  title  in  the  courts.  I  thought 
he  had  overlooked  something,  and  told  him  so. 

"This  deal  is  one  of  the  cleanest  you  ever  saw. 


The  Mexican  Venture  Page  51 

Now,  I'll  go  all  over  it  again.  The  original  owners 
had  a  row  with  some  Mexicans,  got  the  claim — that's 
none  of  my  business — named  it,  did  the  assessment 
work  in  the  first  thirty  days  and  sold  it  to  me,  and  now 
I  have  made  the  Vendetta  crowd  agree  to  buy  it  from 
me  in  nine  months." 

"If  you  can  deliver  title,  I  think  you  said." 

"Of  course.  That  was  a  measure  of  safety  they  in 
serted  in  the  agreement.  All  I  have  to  do  is  to  sign  a 
quit  claim  deed  to  the  ground,  they  pass  over  the  money 
and  it's  done.  Easy?  What  makes  it  look  so  good  to 
me  is  the  fact  that  the  people  who  have  been  giving  me 
the  run  own  the  Vendetta.  Startles  you,  eh  ?  It  is  not 
generally  known  that  they  own  it,  but  I  found  it  out. 
They  were  surprised  when  they  saw  me  come  in.  For 
some  reason  they  were  keeping  their  ownership  quiet. 
That  will  even  up  scores  on  the  Bombshell  deal." 

I  was  not  quite  so  certain  as  he  was. 

Sherman  had  had  a  dozen  brushes  with  these  peo 
ple,  and,  so  far,  he  had  won  every  case,  and  though  it 
had  cost  him  a  deal  of  money,  he  was  ahead  of  the 
game  to  date.  But  now  he  had  bearded  their  pet  lion, 
in  their  favorite  den,  and  I  fancied  that  they  were  not 
as  insecure  as  he  imagined  they  were. 


Page  52  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

"Sherman,"  I  said,  "I  think  I  will  go  down  with 
you  and  look  over  that  piece  of  ground.  Perhaps  you 
have  made  a  mistake — sometimes,  you  know,  a  man 
only  opens  his  mouth  to  put  his  foot  in  it." 

"When  I  require  your  services  on  the  Mexican 
Venture,  I  will  inform  you,"  icily,  "and  in  the  mean 
time  please  be  good  enough  to  devote  your  energies 
to  the  Consolidated  property — we  want  to  double  the 
capacity  of  the  mill,  and  this  afternoon  we  will  send  in 
an  order  to  the  supply  houses — " 

"Wouldn't  it  be  a  good  idea  to  wait  until  you  have 
the  $150,000  before  you  send  in  that  order?"  I  asked. 

"Who  is  responsible  for  the  debts  of  this  prop 
erty,  you  or  me?  I  will  send  along  $20,000  for  the 
first  payment,  and  by  the  time  the  addition  is  com 
pleted,  the  Vendetta  money  will  be  due,  to  pay  off  the 
balance." 

"If  you  can  deliver  title,"  I  answered,  quoting  his 
words. 

Sherman  glanced  at  me. 

"W'you  mean  ?"  a  trifle  sharply. 

"Sherman,  who  drew  that  contract?" 

"It's  all  right — the  Vendetta  attorneys  wrote  it,  and 
they  signed  it.  No,  I  didn't  show  it  to  my  attorney. 


The  Mexican  Venture  Page  53 

It's  none  of  his  business.  Powers  is  a  nice  fellow,  and 
I  like  him — but  I  don't  want  him  to  know  any  more 
about  my  business  than  I  want  to  tell  him,  and,  be 
sides,  I  know  the  law.  Know  more  than  most  lawyers 
do.  The  only  trouble  is,  these  fellows  who  fight  me 
don't  know  the  law.  That's  proved  by  the  way  I  al 
ways  win  my  suits.  Understand?" 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  most  of  his  cases  were  settled 
out  of  court,  due  to  an  intuitive  knowledge  on  his  part 
of  the  exact  moment  at  which  to  bring  his  business 
mind  into  action. 

About  a  week  after  this  Sherman  went  down  to  the 
county  seat,  and  during  the  day  telephoned  to  me  to 
join  him.  I  found  him  sitting  in  the  lobby  of  the 
hotel,  quietly  smoking,  by  himself.  We  talked  awhile 
on  commonplace  subjects,  and  as  there  was  a  fair  the 
atrical  production  in  town  that  night,  he  invited  me  to 
see  the  play.  When  we  reached  the  opera  house,  I 
found  that  he  had  purchased  tickets  in  the  gallery,  for 
while  he  was  in  many  ways  the  most  generous  of  men, 
he  was  in  other  respects  the  most  miserly  individual 
I  ever  knew. 

We  reached  the  hotel  about  n  o'clock.  He  sug 
gested  a  light  lunch.  He  was  always  hungry.  So  we 


Page  54  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

crossed  the  street,  and  while  I  ate  a  sandwich,  he 
gorged  himself  on  corned  beef  and  cabbage,  which,  he 
said,  was  "the  cheapest  thing  on  the  bill  of  fare  that 
was  filling."  How  he  could  do  it,  and  sleep  afterward, 
was  a  mystery. 

He  had  rented  the  best  room  in  the  hotel  for  me, 
with  a  bath,  and  a  hall  bedroom  for  himself — the  low 
est  price  apartment  in  the  house,  of  course. 

Coming  into  my  room,  for  his  was  without  heat, 
he  threw  himself  into  a  rocker,  elevated  his  feet  to  the 
dresser,  and,  after  blowing  a  cloud  of  smoke  toward 
the  ceiling,  said : 

"The  Mexican  Venture  has  been  jumped." 

"Jumped?" 

"That's  what  I  said.  That's  the  reason  I  sent  for 
you.  Fellow  located  it  and  sank  a  new  hole,  and,  just 
to  be  funny,  has  named  it  Sherman's  Dream.  Of 
course,"  in  an  injured  tone,  "that's  a  slam  at  me.  My 
location  was  first.  Powers  says  it's  a  clear  case." 

"What  do  you  expect  me  to  do?" 

"Damifino.  Thought  I  would  have  you  down  here, 
if  anything  happened.  Well,  let's  go  to  bed,"  saying 
which  he  went  to  his  room,  and  I  sat  up  wondering 
what  devilment  his  enemies  had  been  plotting,  for  he 


The  Mexican  Venture  Page  55 

certainly  seemed  to  be  in  the  midst  of  new  trouble. 
The  order  for  the  addition  to  the  mill,  which  I  thought 
was  foolish,  as  we  did  not  possess  the  water  to  operate 
it,  had  gone  out.  This  meant  more  debts,  and  Sher 
man  was  already  tied  up  in  a  complicated  mass  of  in 
junctions  and  restraining  orders,  of  apex,  extra- 
lateral  rights  and  damage  suits.  He  was  simply  burn 
ing  money  to  keep  out  of  the  flame  himself. 

The  next  morning  I  visited  Powers,  while  Sher 
man  had  a  session  with  the  local  banker,  and  when  he 
was  not  with  the  financier,  he  was  in  the  telegraph 
office.  He  was  a  mighty  busy  man. 

"It's  like  this,"  said  Powers.  "Sherman  is  the  vic 
tim  of  a  conspiracy,  as  near  as  I  can  figure  it  out, 
though  it  is  impossible  to  prove  it.  In  the  first  place, 
there  have  been  no  Mexicans  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Vendetta  since  history  began.  In  the  next  place,  the 
fellow  who  located  the  claim  is  in  the  employ  of  the 
Vendetta,  and  he  seems  to  be  spending  the  greater  part 
of  his  time  in  the  city.  His  name  is  Hunt.  He  says 
that  Sherman  has  no  legal  right  to  the  claim.  He  has 
simply  located  it.  It  is  not  an  adverse  suit.  It  looks 
to  me  like  a  put-up  job  of  some  kind,  though  I  cannot 
tell  until  they  show  their  hand.  Yesterday,  under  my 


Page  56  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

advice,  Sherman  went  up  there  to  resume  work,  when 
Hunt  appeared,  and  with  a  number  of  Vendetta  work 
men  drove  him  from  the  property.  Today  we  filed  a 
suit  against  Hunt,  alleging  trespass,  and  restraining 
him  from  interfering  with  Sherman  farther.  I  think 
that  will  settle  Mr.  Hunt." 

But  it  didn't. 

At  the  last  moment  he  came  into  court,  and  through 
the  Vendetta  attorneys  alleged  that  the  ground  was 
public  domain,  and  that  sufficient  work  had  not  been 
done  upon  it  to  hold  it  under  the  law.  When  one  lo 
cates  a  mining  claim,  one  must  sink  a  hole  on  a  vein 
showing  mineralization,  ten  feet  deep.  The  hole  on  the 
Mexican  Venture  was  only  nine  feet  eleven  inches 
deep.* 

So  Sherman  lost  his  case — the  first  real  legal  set 
back  since  the  litigation  started. 

That  he  was  the  victim  of  a  plot  there  seemed  to  be 
no  doubt — that  he  could  maintain  an  action  on  these 
grounds  was  doubtful.  Powers  advised  against  it. 

That  afternoon  he  sat  in  his  attorney's  office,  his 
hands  shoved  deep  in  his  trousers'  pockets.  As  I 
watched  him,  his  face  seemed  different  from  the  first 

*Fact. 


The  Mexican  Venture  Page  57 

day  I  had  known  him.  His  great  nose  was  finely  chis 
eled,  and  his  long,  gaunt  features,  somehow  or  other, 
seemed  to  have  been  nobly  moulded.  There  was  a  sym 
pathetic  expression  that  one  did  not  notice,  except 
through  long  acquaintance.  Powers,  cool  and  calculat 
ing,  had  grown  to  love  this  rough  specimen  of  humanity, 
the  victim  of  so  many  intrigues.  He  was  a  poor,  strug 
gling  attorney  when  Sherman  found  him,  in  a  back  room 
of  an  out-of-the-way  building.  The  beginning  was 
small.  After  the  first  contest,  when  Powers  advised  that 
heavier  legal  talent  be  retained,  he  introduced  higher- 
priced  men.  Sherman  did  not  murmur  at  the  outrageous 
bills  they  rendered — for  he  had  to  have  them.  In  set 
tling  up  he  handed  Powers,  without  comment,  a  check 
in  excess  of  the  largest  he  had  drawn  for  the  outside 
lawyers,  for  Powers  had  charge  of  the  cases,  and  he 
believed  in  giving  him  the  general's  fee.  Powers  tried 
to  tell  him  that  he  could  save  him  all  the  trouble  if  he 
would  only  advise  with  him  in  advance,  but  Sherman's 
answer  was : 

"What's  the  good  of  a  lawyer  if  you  can't  get  him 
when  you  are  in  trouble?  Any  damned  fool  can  tell 
you  how  to  keep  out  of  it.  It  takes  a  wise  man  to  get 
you  out,  once  you  are  in  the  quicksands." 


Page  58  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

All  these  things  came  to  me  as  I  sat  watching 
him  that  afternoon,  wondering  what  his  next  move 
would  be. 

"I  am  going,"  he  said  suddenly.  "Meet  here  to 
night  at  seven  o'clock."  And  he  stalked  from  the  room. 

Having  failed  at  law,  it  was  evident  that  he  now 
intended  to  bring  his  genius  to  bear.  It  was  a  terrible 
mess,  for  the  machinery  for  the  mill  would  soon  be  ar 
riving,  and  the  bills  would  be  due.  We  were  producing 
practically  no  ore,  and  he  was  heavily  indebted  to  the 
bank.  More  of  his  paper  had  mysteriously  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  Vendetta  owners,  and  they  had  notified 
him  that  they  possessed  it.  He  needed  more  than 
$100,000  to  meet  his  next  payment  on  the  addition  to 
the  mill,  and  he  had  still  other  notes  out. 

Sitting  in  the  office  waiting  for  Sherman,  we  no 
ticed  that  the  lights  were  burning  in  the  office  of  the 
attorneys  of  his  enemies,  and  that  occasionally  a  cur 
tain  was  drawn  aside  slightly,  as  some  one  apparently 
glanced  up  the  street. 

At  nine  o'clock  we  were  still  waiting,  when  we 
heard  a  stealthy  footfall  in  the  hallway.  Powers  picked 
up  a  heavy  metallic  ruler  and  moved  silently  across 
the  room.  The  faltering  steps  halted  in  front  of  our 


The  Mexican  Venture  Page  59 

door,  and  the  attorney  tiptoed  back  to  his  seat.  There 
came  a  timid  knock. 

"Come  in !"  bawled  Powers. 

The  door  opened,  and  Hunt  stepped  into  the  room. 
Powers  was  too  well  trained  to  utter  an  exclamation 
of  surprise,  but  I  was  thunderstruck.  The  attorney 
rose  quietly,  shook  hands  with  him,  and  in  the  manner 
of  understanding  perfectly,  seated  him  where  he  could 
not  be  seen  from  the  windows  across  the  street,  saying 
the  while : 

"We  were  waiting  for  you— expect  Sherman  every 
minute." 

He  had  hardly  spoken  the  words  before  we  heard 
Sherman  coming  noisily  up  the  front  steps.  Entering 
the  room,  he  sat  down  at  the  table,  drew  up  a  desk 
'phone  and  called  a  number.  After  a  moment  he 
asked : 

"Everything  all  right?" 

It  must  have  been,  for  a  moment  later  Sherman 
said: 

"Very  well.  Send  him  down  to  Powers'  office  right 
away." 

Then,  hanging  up  the  receiver,  he  turned  to  the  at 
torney  and  said : 


Page  60  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

"Draw  up  a  quit  claim  deed  conveying  the  Sher 
man's  Dream  from  Hunt  to  me,  consideration  $15,000. 
A  notary  will  be  here  in  a  moment  to  acknowledge  it." 

Powers  looked  hard  and  long  at  Sherman.  I  knew 
what  he  wanted  to  say,  but  he  dared  not  in  Hunt's 
presence.  Then,  drawing  a  blank  form  of  a  deed  from 
a  drawer,  he  filled  it  in  and  had  just  finished  when  the 
notary  appeared.  Sherman  counted  out  $15,000  in 
bills,  the  signatures  were  acknowledged,  the  deed 
passed  to  Sherman  and  a  $5  gold  piece  to  the  notary. 

"Now/'  said  Sherman,  "remain  here  until  I  return. 
Back  in  half  an  hour." 

Wonderingly,  we  waited.  Sherman  was  evidently 
taking  no  chances  now,  though  we  were  fearful  that 
he  was  on  the  verge  of  another  costly  blunder.  He 
went  out  the  back  way,  in  the  direction  from  which 
Hunt  came.  Ten  minutes  later  the  telephone  rang  and 
Sherman's  voice  said: 

"Let  those  fellows  out.  I'll  be  down  in  a  few 
minutes." 

Powers  unlocked  the  door,  and  said: 

"Gentlemen,  good  night." 

From  the  window  we  observed  that  Hunt  went 


The  Mexican  Venture  Page  61 

directly  to  the  offices  of  the  Vendetta  attorneys,  across 
the  street. 

A  few  moments  later  Sherman  came  lazily  up  the 
front  stairs,  and,  entering  the  room,  dropped  into  a 
chair,  struck  a  match  and  lighted  a  long  perfecto — his 
only  real  extravagance,  for  he  was  a  slave  to  good 
cigars.  Then  he  tossed  to  Powers  a  deed  for  the 
Sherman's  Dream,  indorsed  by  the  County  Clerk  as 
having  been  filed  for  record  at  9:55  that  night. 

"How  do  you  know,"  asked  Powers,  after  a  crit 
ical  inspection  of  the  papers  and  signatures,  "but  that 
this  claim  has  already  been  sold  to  the  other  side?" 

"It  may  have  been,"  was  the  aggravating  response, 
after  which  he  smoked  for  a  few  moments,  "and  I 
should  not  be  surprised  if  it  had  been — but  it's  not  on 
record  in  the  County  Clerk's  office,  and  this  deed  is. 
That  being  the  case,  it  beats  me  to  know  where  these 
fellows  are  going  to  get  off  short  of  $150,000." 

For  once  in  his  life  he  had  done  something  thor 
oughly,  and  he  had  not  left  a  loophole  for  the  other 
side  to  crawl  through.  His  enemies  had  been  scorched 
in  a  fire  of  their  own  kindling.  He  paid  Hunt  just 
$14,000  more  than  they  had  promised  him,  and  had 
remained  at  the  end  of  the  hall  until  he  saw  him  enter 


Page  62  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

Powers'  office.  He  had  previously  made  the  arrange 
ments  for  an  examination  of  the  records  and  the 
recording  of  the  instrument  that  night. 

I  went  up  to  the  Consolidated  property  the  next 
morning,  and  Sherman  followed  a  few  days  later, 
arriving  at  supper  time.  He  partook  of  an  enormous 
meal,  and  washed  it  down  with  a  bottle  of  beer,  which 
made  everybody  gaze  at  him  in  amazement,  and 
wonder  what  in  the  world  had  happened. 

Later,  in  the  office,  he  said : 

"Something  dropped,  down  in  the  county  seat,  to 
day." 

Then  he  lighted  a  cigar,  and  for  some  reason  so 
far  forgot  himself  as  to  hand  me  one. 

"Yes,  indeed.  Something  dropped  hard.  I  filed 
suit  against  the  Vendetta,  claiming  an  apex,  damages 
for  ore  already  extracted  from  the  vein — and,  then 
some." 

"You — "  I  was  speechless. 

"But  you  are  under  option  to  sell  them  that  claim 
for  $150,000." 

"Guess  again.  You  see,  they  agreed  to  buy  the 
Mexican  Venture  for  that  price — but  they  knocked 
the  Mexican  Venture  higher  than  a  kite,  and  we  have 


The  Mexican  Venture  Page  63 

the  court's  decision  on  that.  I  filed  suit  from  the 
Sherman's  Dream,  you  know — they  have  no  option  on 
that  whatever.  Sabe?" 

I  gazed  at  him  speechless.  He  was  the  most  re 
sourceful  man  I  ever  knew. 

"They  want  a  settlement  with  me  now — Powers 
says  I  am  a  fool  for  granting  it — that  I  can  force  the 
entire  matter  on  this  one  point — but  I  intend  to  sell 
them  the  Sherman's  Dream  for  the  amount  for  which  I 
agreed  originally  to  transfer  the  Mexican  Venture, 
$150,000,  plus  $15,000  I  was  compelled  to  pay  Hunt." 

It  happened  just  that  way,  and  the  money  was  paid, 
with  the  understanding  that  it  was  to  apply  on  a  note 
he  owed  in  the  East  and  which  was  held  by  the  local 
bank  for  collection.  After  it  was  over,  in  that  cold 
tone  of  his,  he  said: 

"That  Mexican  Venture  was  not  such  a  bad  one, 
after  all — if  it  was  only  one  of  Sherman's  Dreams." 


CHAPTER  V 


ttbe  Delusion  an&  tbe  Dog  facet)  /iDan 

Sherman  hung  up  the  'phone,  after  a  ten-minute 
talk  over  the  long-distance,  lighted  a  fresh  cigar, 
pushed  back  his  chair,  adjusted  his  feet  on  the  table 
in  a  satisfied  manner,  and  squinted  across  the  tips  of 
his  boots  at  Ascension  Peak  in  the  distance.  I  knew 
he  had  something  on  his  mind,  and  a  moment  later  he 
said: 

"I  intend  to  start  work  Monday  morning  on  .the 
Delusion." 

The  remark  made  me  sick  at  heart.  This  new 
freak,  whatever  it  was,  meant  more  litigation.  He  was 
fighting  now  to  keep  his  head  above  water.  Hundreds 
of  thousands  of  dollars  in  judgments  hung  over  him. 
He  was  hounded  on  all  sides  by  collectors,  lawyers  and 
detectives,  who  dogged  his  footsteps,  in  the  hope  of 


The  Delusion — Dog^Faced  Man  Page  65 

finding  something  they  could  levy  on.  The  statement 
that  he  intended  to  start  work  on  a  new  property  was 
astounding,  for  it  meant  the  expenditure  of  more 
money,  and  the  Consolidated  was  using  every  dollar 
he  could  get.  True,  we  were  mining  a  thin  streak  of 
very  high-grade  ore  from  the  Bonanza  vein.  I  was 
afraid  it  would  fade  downward  into  low  grade,  while 
the  people  he  was  fighting,  not  knowing  the  exact  con 
dition,  were  fearful  that  it  would  mount  into  sensa 
tional  values. 

Sherman  had  been  in  court  for  more  than  a  week. 
He  had  been  on  the  stand  the  greater  part  of  the  time. 
In  response  to  questions,  he  frankly  told  opposing 
counsel  that  he  had  no  money.  They  asked  him  what 
he  had  done  with  the  Consolidated  Group,  and  he  told 
them  that  he  had  turned  it  over  to  his  creditors  in 
trust,  the  corporation  assuming  his  obligations  on  the 
property.  He  told  all  this  honestly,  and  no  amount  of 
cross-questioning  could  break  him  down,  for  he  was 
telling  the  truth. 

One  of  them  asked  him : 

"Is  it  possible  for  you  to  borrow  any  money?" 

"I  think  possibly  I  could,  yes,  sir." 

"Then  why  don't  you  do  it,  and  pay  some  of  these 


Page  66  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

judgments  that  are  hanging  over  your  head?"  he  was 
asked. 

"Because  I  do  not  care  to  incur  any  more  indebted 
ness,"  came  the  answer,  like  a  flash. 

I  have  already  said  that  Sherman  had  a  great 
many  enemies.  After  the  trying  week  on  the  stand 
he  had  fewer.  For,  through  it  all,  Powers  had  offered 
no  objection  to  the  course  of  opposing  counsel,  asking 
just  enough  questions  to  show  that  Sherman  was  the 
victim  of  a  well-laid  conspiracy  to  encompass  his  ruin. 
He  brought  out  the  fact  that  the  depressed  condition 
of  the  several  mining  sections  of  the  county  could  be 
laid  at  the  door  of  the  Vendetta  people,  and  that  they 
intended  to  hound  his  client  until  he  had  lost  his  vast 
possessions.  Through  it  all  Sherman  was  the  coolest 
man  in  the  court-room.  A  galaxy  of  the  hardest 
cross-examiners  in  the  state  had  him  in  hand,  but  his 
story  was  always  the  same. 

Then  came  the  arguments. 

When  Powers'  turn  came,  he  arose  and  said: 

"Two  years  ago,  your  honor,  my  client  was  worth 
more  than  $1,000,000.  Today  he  is  a  pauper,  accord 
ing  to  the  investigation  of  the  people  who  are  harass- 


The  Delusion — Dog  Faced  Man  Page  67 

ing  him,  and  because  of  the  litigation  they  have  forced 
him  into." 

Then  he  took  his  seat.  The  other  side  argued  for 
hours,  but  Powers'  words  struck  home.  They  were 
meant  for  the  crowd,  and  they  hit  the  bull's  eye. 

It  was  all  over,  and  now  he  was  calmly  considering 
work  on  a  new  property. 

"You  have  no  money,"  I  said. 

"I  don't  need  it,"  he  replied.  "Why,  there's  ore  in 
sight,  and  I  can  get  out  enough  in  the  first  week  to 
meet  expenses  for  a  month." 

"And  have  the  other  fellows  attach  you,"  I  said. 

"I  won't  tell  them  anything  about  it,  though." 

Just  the  same,  the  fact  that  he  was  about  to  start 
work  on  the  Delusion  made  everybody  gape  with 
astonishment.  He  selected  a  small  force,  and  took  the 
men  to  the  property.  Then  the  fact  leaked  out,  from 
some  mysterious  source,  that  he  had  a  bond  and  lease 
on  the  mine,  calling  for  the  payment  of  $300,000 
within  ninety  days. 

The  enormity  of  the  deal  made  men  of  money  rub 
their  eyes.  Work  started,  and  a  carload  of  extremely 
rich  ore  was  sent  to  the  smelter  within  a  week.  The 
district  was  afire  with  excitement,  when  his  old-time 


Page  68  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

enemies  came  into  court  and  enjoined  him,  alleging 
that  he  was  extracting  ore  from  a  vein  that  apexed  in 
a  claim  owned  by  them,  just  above  the  Delusion,  and 
known  as  the  Dog  Faced  Man. 

Sherman  took  me  up  to  look  the  ground  over.  It 
was  a  clear  case.  He  had  been  buncoed  again.  The 
ore  belonged  to  the  Dog  Faced  Man,  and  I  told  him 
so.  Then  he  sent  for  Powers,  and  he  confirmed  my 
statement.  Powers  then  went  to  the  records,  to  find  that 
Sherman's  enemies  had  purchased  the  Dog  Faced  Man 
since  he  had  commenced  operations  on  the  Delusion, 
for  the  sum  of  $100,000,  and  they  had  so  timed  their 
suit  that  they  intercepted  his  check  from  the  smelter 
in  settlement  for  the  car  of  ore  shipped. 

"Can't  you  file  a  demurrer,  or  something,"  asked 
Sherman,  "to  give  me  more  time?" 

"It  would  be  ridiculous — you  haven't  a  ghost  of  a 
show.  You  would  be  laughed  out  of  court.  This 
thing,  Sherman,  is  pitifully  spectacular." 

He  sent  Powers  to  try  and  effect  a  consolidation  of 
interests,  and  failed.  Following  this,  he  appeared  at 
the  Vendetta  office,  with  the  same  proposition.  He 
was  treated  with  scant  courtesy.  It  was  the  last  straw, 
everybody  said. 


The  Delusion — Dog  Faced  Man  Page  69 

"This  venture/'  they  told  him,  "is  typical  of  your 
whole  life —  a  delusion." 

"I  thought  of  that,"  he  answered,  slowly,  "but  I 
believe  I  am  taking  a  more  hopeful  view  of  life  than 
you  are." 

That  night,  at  the  mine,  he  suddenly  looked  up  and 
said : 

"I  don't  understand  it  at  all." 

"Don't  understand  what?"  I  asked. 

"I  don't  sabe  how  a  man  with  his  eyes  open  can 
transfer,  say,  one  hundred  cents  from  one  pocket  to  the 
other,  and  lose  eighty  of  them  in  the  process." 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean,"  slowly,  "that  this  whole  thing  has  been 
a  Delusion — and  a  snare — but  the  other  fellow 
dropped  into  the  business  end  of  the  snare." 

"I  may  be  dense,  but  I  don't  follow  you." 

"So?  Now,  my  friends,  our  enemies  never  pleaded 
guilty  to  being  dense — and  they  did  follow  me." 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  this,  old  man.  I  took  a  bond  and  lease  on 
the  Delusion,  with  a  clause  to  pay  $300,000  in  ninety 
days.  I  could  not  do  it — I  knew  that  when  I  signed 
the  lease.  The  ore  in  the  Delusion  belonged  to  the 


Page  70  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

Dog  Faced  Man — I  knew  that,  too,  and  just  as  soon 
as  I  commenced  to  produce,  they  jumped  in  and  pur 
chased  the  Dog  Faced  Man  and  bottled  me  up." 

"What  has  that  to  do  with  the  loss  of  eighty  cents 
on  the  dollar?" 

"Just  this.  Previous  to  getting  that  bond  and 
lease — Oh,  a  long  time  ago — I  secured  an  option  on 
the  Dog  Faced  Man,  for  $20,000.  When  they  paid 
$100,000  for  the  property,  through  the  bank,  I  received 
$80,000  of  the  money,  for  the  owner  of  the  claim  was 
tied  up  in  an  agreement  with  me  in  escrow,  and  prom 
ised  me  all  I  could  get  over  $20,000.  Well,  you  know 
there  was  a  payment  due  on  the  Consolidated  today  of 
$80,000,  and  that  little  transaction  just  naturally  saved 
me  the  trouble  of  raising  the  money  myself.  So,  in 
their  anxiety  to  throttle  me,  they  transferred  $100,000 
from  one  pocket  to  the  other,  and  lost  $80,000  in  the 
operation.  Is  it  all  clear  to  you  now?  And,  what's 
more,  the  claim  they  bought  is  worth  the  money.  They 
are  welcome  to  all  they  can  get  out  of  it — if  they  can 
get  it." 

I  gazed  at  the  man  in  amazement.  His  resources 
were  beyond  calculation.  He  was  fighting  the  enemy 
with  fire. 


The  Delusion — Dog  Faced  Man  Page  71 

"I  cannot  understand  why  you  should  have  gone 
to  all  the  trouble  to  try  to  settle  with  them — to  effect  a 
consolidation,  and  suffer  the  insults  you  did." 

"Oh,  there's  nothing  mean  about  me,  in  a  case  of 
this  kind.  They  thought  they  had  me  in  a  trap,  and  it 
was  my  business  to  encourage  them  in  the  belief,  for  a 
number  of  reasons.  It  afforded  me  great  pleasure,  too, 
to  amuse  them.  If  I  had  not  acted  that  way,  they 
would  never  have  known  what  the  song  of  victory 
sounded  like,  for  they  had  the  song  all  prepared,  and 
were  practicing  on  it,  and  they  felt  the  thrill  that  comes 
over  one  as  he  feels  he  is  surmounting  all  obstacles.  I 
simply  did  that  out  of  generosity." 

"Are  you  quite  sure  of  that,  Sherman?"  I  asked. 
"You  knew  that  because  of  your  action,  the  greater 
would  be  their  fall,  did  you  not?" 

"That,"  he  answered,  "was  their  affair.  I  make  it 
a  point  never  to  interfere  with  another  man's  busi 
ness — especially  when  it  concerns  a  Dog  Faced  Man." 


CHAPTER  VI. 


flDaster  Strode 


We  had  just  stepped  from  the  office  to  get  a  breath 
of  fresh  air,  for  the  tobacco  fumes  had  nearly  stifled 
us,  when  Hennessey,  the  timberman,  rushed  up  and 
breathlessly  announced : 

"The  Vendetta  has  been  leased !" 

"Step  into  the  office,"  said  Sherman. 

It  was  an  honor  to  be  invited  into  his  den.  In 
the  years  at  the  mine,  I  do  not  recall  the  names  of  half  a 
dozen  men,  outside  of  the  superintendents,  who  were 
ever  invited  into  the  office.  Hence,  I  was  surprised  at 
Sherman's  course,  since  Hennessey  was  an  individual 
to  whom  he  had  never  addressed  a  word  of  conver 
sation.  He  knew  every  man  by  name,  but  seldom 


The  Master  Stroke  Page  73 

spoke  to  one.  As  Sherman  leaned  back  in  his  chair, 
in  the  glare  of  the  incandescent  lights  that  flanked  the 
room,  one  seemed  to  realize  that  he  was  no  ordinary 
man.  Hennessey  was  out  of  place,  took  off  his  hat  and 
seemed  to  feel  that  his  hands  and  feet  were  in  the  way. 

"You  say  the  Vendetta  has  been  leased?"  Sherman 
commenced. 

"Yes — papers  signed  today.  I  thought  you  would 
like  to  know  about  it.  Everybody  is  talking  about  it 
down  in  the  county  seat." 

"Did  you  hear  who  the  lessee  is?"  Sherman  asked. 

"No.  No  one  knows,  except  that  he's  a  damned 
fool.  Say,  that  crowd  of  pirates  has  sure  caught  a 
sucker,  for  he  agrees  to  pay  25  per  cent,  royalty  gross 
on  the  mill  dirt,  and  the  smelting  rock  pays  all  the  way 
from  30  to  75  per  cent,  on  the  gross — think  of  it — 75 
per  cent.'' 

"Pretty  steep,"  said  Sherman,  thoughtfully. 

"Steep,  is  it?  Why,  the  fellow  who  signed  that 
lease  is  a  lunatic.  I  thought  you  would  like  to  know 
about  it,  because  may  be  it  is  because  those  devils  you 
are  fighting  are  hard  up  for  cash.  I  know  that's  it,  for 
the  lessee  has  agreed  to  double  the  present  working 
force  within  six  months." 


Page  74  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

"How  do  you  know  that?" 

"Because  everybody  says  so,  and  everybody  can't 
be  wrong." 

''Suppose  he  fails?" 

"That's  where  he  shows  himself  to  be  a  damned 
fool — he  has  put  up  a  bond  of  $300,000  to  guarantee 
it." 

"Well,  well,"  said  Sherman,  musingly.  Then  he 
relapsed  into  silence,  and  Hennessey  did  not  have  to 
be  hit  with  a  brick  to  know  that  he  could  depart  when 
ever  it  suited  his  convenience. 

Just  as  he  was  going  through  the  door,  Sherman 
said: 

"Smoke,  Hennessey?"  and  passed  over  a  fine  per- 
fecto. 

I  almost  dropped  dead  at  this  sudden  display  of 
liberality.  Hennessey  took  the  cigar  like  a  frightened 
man — thanked  Sherman  two  or  three  times,  and  nearly 
broke  his  neck  stumbling  toward  the  mess  house  to 
tell  about  it.  He  would  have  committed  murder  for 
Sherman  after  that. 

"W-you  think  of  it?"  asked  Sherman,  after  Hen 
nessey  had  gone. 

"You  mean  the  lease  ?    The  same  as  Hennessey." 


The  Master  Stroke  Page  75 

"About  the  royalties?" 

"Same  as  Hennessey  does." 

"I  gave  you  credit  for  having  more  sense  than  Hen 
nessey,"  said  Sherman,  sarcastically.  "Now,  if  I 
asked  him  that  question,!  think  he  would  have  been  a 
trifle  more  diplomatic  in  his  reply.  For  my  part,  I 
can't  see  anything  wrong  about  it." 

I  glanced  up  at  him,  wondering  whether  he  had 
slipped  a  cog,  or  had  miraculously  commenced  to  joke. 

"You  see,"  he  continued,  after  a  moment,  "Hen 
nessey  told  more  truth  than  he  thought  when  he  said 
that  the  Vendetta  gang  is  in  need  of  money.  So  is  the 
fellow  who  got  the  lease.  He  needs  it  more  than 
they  do." 

"Then  why  did  he  sign  such  an  insane  agreement? 
After  he  pays  his  bills  and  royalties,  he  will  find  him 
self  in  debt." 

"Suppose  if,  in  addition  to  that,  he  agreed  to  leave 
as  much  ore  in  sight  at  the  end  of  each  quarter  as 
there  is  in  the  mine  at  the  present  time,  would  you  con 
sider  him  sane?" 

"I  would  not." 

"Well,"  slowly,  "that  is  what  he  has  agreed  to  do." 

"How  do  you  know?" 


Page  76  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

"Because,"  came  the  even  reply,  "I  am  the  lessee." 

All  of  Sherman's  interests  swam  before  my  eyes. 
We  were  fighting  for  our  very  existence,  and  he  had 
made  this  deal.  It  meant  ruin — there  was  no  other 
way  out  of  it. 

Briefly,  the  mine  had  been  leased  by  a  company,  in 
which  Sherman  did  not  appear,  for  he  was  to  be  the 
manager,  a  fact  which  the  Vendetta  people  were  to 
ascertain  the  next  day. 

"Sherman,"  I  said,  "if  you  have  been  able  to  fur 
nish  a  bond  of  $300,000,  for  goodness'  sake  forfeit  it, 
for  you  will  lose  less  in  that  manner  than  by  operating 
the  mine." 

"I  was  not  aware  that  I  had  sought  your  advice 
on  the  subject,"  he  said,  drily. 

Naturally,  when  you  are  bowled  over  like  that,  the 
less  you  have  to  say,  the  better.  So  I  waited. 

"I  regard  this  lease,"  he  continued,  after  a  mo 
ment,  "and  particularly  the  terms,  as  most  favorable. 
In  the  first  place,  it  shows  that  I  am  confident  that  I 
can  do  precisely  what  I  agree  to.  You  will  go  over 
the  property  with  me  in  the  morning.  I  want  your 
opinion  on  a  certain  piece  of  development  work  I  wish 
to  carry  on  there." 


The  Master  Stroke  Page  77 

The  next  day  Sherman  explained  it  all  to  Powers, 
who  walked  the  floor  and  tore  his  hair  like  a  madman. 

"Just  think/'  he  cried  to  me,  appealingly,  "we  need 
every  dollar  we  can  get,  and  this  idiot  is  diving  head 
long  to  the  bankruptcy  court.  Sherman,  you  are  crazy. 
You  have  only  a  bedspring  in  the  place  where  your 
brains  should  be,  and  a  damned  poor  spring  at  that." 

And  then  he  moaned  in  anguish.  Powers  had  taken 
Sherman's  trouble  to  heart — he  was  growing  thin 
with  worry.  Finally,  he  dropped  into  a  chair,  ex 
hausted. 

"Now,  there's  no  use  getting  worked  up  about  this 
thing,"  he  replied,  kindly.  "I  know  how  you  fellows 
feel,  and  I  know  why  you  feel  that  way — but,  believe 
me,  it  is  all  for  the  best.  My  mind  works  best  in  single 
harness.  I  simply  cannot  train  with  others,  and  I  am 
never  given  to  entering  into  a  conference.  You  just 
watch  my  smoke,  and  you  will  see  something." 

"Witness  your  financial  cremation,"  snarled  Pow 
ers,  disgusted. 

It  was  the  same  old  story — if  he  had  taken  on  more 
trouble  it  was  up  to  Powers  to  fight  the  case  in  court, 
and  to  me  to  dig  the  expenses  out  of  the  ground  not 
yet  tied  up  in  litigation,  and  I  had  failed  to  keep  pace 


Page  78  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

with  his  downward  financial  plunge,  for  nearly  $1,000,- 
ooo  in  judgments  hung  over  him. 

Then  we  went  up  to  the  Vendetta,  and  Sherman 
presented  his  credentials.  There  was  a  scene,  but  he 
took  possession.  The  arch  enemy  of  the  mine  pirates 
was  now,  for  the  first  time,  within  their  lines,  system 
atically  checking  up  their  wealth,  for  we  immediately 
began  to  sample  the  property. 

Ten  days  later,  after  Sherman  had  assumed  full 
charge,  and  a  clean-up  had  been  effected,  he  paid  off 
the  mill  hands,  and  boarded  up  the  windows. 

"Here,  you  can't  do  that,"  protested  one  of  the 
owners,  hotly. 

"Can't  do  what?"  asked  Sherman,  innocently. 

"You  must  keep  this  mill  running." 

"Not  unless  I  care  to." 

"Our  contract  says — " 

"I  have  read  the  contract  very  carefully,"  answered 
Sherman,  "and  I  see  nothing  in  it  that  compels  me  to 
continue  the  operation  of  this  mill  or  any  other  mill. 
Read  your  contract." 

They  repaired  to  their  attorneys,  and  Sherman 
turned  his  attention  to  developing  the  ore  bodies  of 
the  Vendetta,  which  were  rich,  and  enormous  in  size 


The  Master  Stroke  Page  79 

and  strength.  He  increased  his  working  force  steadily, 
but  did  not  ship  a  pound  of  ore  to  mill  or  smelter. 

Then  came  the  inevitable  suit,  and  Powers,  who  by 
this  time  had  worked  himself  into  a  frenzy,  was  taken 
aside  by  Sherman.  A  moment  later,  his  face  was  all 
smiles.  Whatever  it  was,  the  information  imparted  had 
acted  as  a  tonic,  for  the  attorney  was  himself  again. 

The  trial  opened,  and  Powers,  arising  in  his  place, 
moved  to  dismiss  the  action.  The  leasing  company, 
which  he  represented,  had  promised  to  pay  a  royalty 
on  all  ore  shipped,  but  to  date  it  had  not  shipped  any. 
It  had  promised  to  develop  the  mine,  which  it  was 
doing,  and  it  had  promised  and  agreed  to  leave  as 
much  ore  in  the  workings  at  the  end  of  each  quarter 
as  was  in  the  mine  when  the  lease  was  signed.  And 
the  company  had  filed  a  bond  for  the  faithful  per 
formance  of  all  these  obligations,  since  it  was  the  pol 
icy  of  the  leasing  company  to  develop,  and  not  to  ship, 
at  the  present  time.  Then  he  spoke  on  the  legal  phase, 
and  while  the  other  side  stormed  and  raved,  and  quoted 
law  from  a  hundred  volumes,  Sherman  won  the  case. 
The  action  was  dismissed. 

Sherman  had  broken  down,  apparently,  the  last 
barrier,  and  was  not  only  within  their  house,  but  had 


Page  80 The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

actually  driven  them  out.  He  knew  to  a  dollar  the 
value  of  their  ore  in  sight,  and  he  was  making  a  shrewd 
guess  at  their  reserve  in  bank,  by  their  action  in  sud 
denly  resuming  work  on  the  Dog  Faced  Man,  though 
they  were  already  in  litigation  with  the  owner  of  the 
Delusion.  It  was  the  boldest  piece  of  enterprise  I  had 
ever  heard  of.  It  made  me  tremble  at  the  thought. 

"Has  he  the  money  to  carry  it  through?"  asked 
Powers. 

"I  don't  know,"  I  replied.  "I  know  nothing  of  his 
resources." 

"If  he  would  only  talk,"  said  Powers,  "we  could 
help  him.  But  he  comes  to  us  after  he  has  put  his 
foot  in  it." 

Later,  I  went  to  Powers'  office  with  Sherman,  to 
find  the  lawyer  trembling  with  excitement. 

"The  Vendetta  people  and  their  attorneys  are  so 
completely  upset  that  they  forgot  to  appear  in  court 
this  afternoon  at  two  o'clock  to  prosecute  their  suit 
against  us  in  the  Alligator-Treasure  case  or  to  answer 
us  in  our  suit  for  damages  for  ore  extracted,  and  I 
took  judgment  by  default." 

There  was  a  gleam  in  Sherman's  eye. 

"That  means?" 


The  Master  Stroke  Page  81 

'That  you  may  resume  work  on  the  Treasure 
whenever  you  want  to.  Of  course,  a  judgment  may 
usually  be  opened  again.  The  whole  outfit  is  on  the 
way  to  the  state  capital.  Now,  Sherman,  get  out  all 
the  ore  you  can,  for  when  they  discover  their  lapse 
they  will  tie  you  up  again." 

I  called  up  the  mine  at  once,  and  gave  Larsen  in 
structions  to  start  the  pumps  on  the  Treasure,  and 
crowd  the  men  on  the  ore  as  fast  as  the  various  levels 
were  recovered,  while  Sherman  went  out  and  re 
tained  every  lawyer  in  the  small  place. 

I  arrived  at  the  Consolidated  property  at  midnight, 
to  find  that  Larsen  had  recovered  the  first  level,  and 
was  forcing  the  work.  The  pumps  beat  with  steady 
rhythm.  The  compressor  was  so  heavily  overloaded 
that  a  stream  of  water  was  playing  on  it  to  keep  it 
cool.  The  trammers  were  working  like  Trojans,  the 
engineer  was  straining  every  nerve,  and  a  force  of 
men  was  engaged  in  transferring  the  big  sinker  pump 
from  the  new  shaft  to  the  Treasure,  to  hurry  the 
work  of  unwatering  the  mine.  Fifteen  machines  were 
pounding  in  the  ore  body. 

It  was  a  noisy  battle.  The  men  did  not  know  the 
reason.  All  they  knew  was  that  Sherman  needed 


Page  82  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

money,  and  all  he  could  get  out  of  the  ground  in  the 
shortest  possible  time,  and  while  he  had  not  spoken  to 
a  dozen  men  about  the  place,  they  all  revered  him. 

The  lower  levels  were  richer  than  the  upper  reaches 
of  the  property,  and  the  miners  entered  them  dressed 
in  rubber,  as  soon  as  it  was  possible  to  put  up  their 
machines.  By  eight  o'clock  the  next  morning  we  had 
raised  100  tons  of  ore,  and  now  that  we  were  getting 
to  the  deeper  portions  of  the  mine,  the  production  in 
creased,  but  because  of  the  fact  that  the  workings  were 
larger,  the  task  of  unwatering  was  necessarily  slower. 

We  were  "gutting"  the  vein  of  the  high  grade 
streak. 

The  next  night  at  six  o'clock  Larsen  was  still  on 
duty — he  would  not  go  to  bed.  Ainsworth,  the  mill 
man,  was  on  his  way  to  the  smelter  with  six  cars  of 
ore.  We  were  fighting  hard,  for  the  other  side  had 
heard  of  their  lapse,  and,  we  learned,  were  returning 
by  special  train.  They  wired  different  attorneys  in 
the  county  seat  to  take  some  action  in  their  behalf,  but 
Sherman's  forethought  in  adding  every  lawyer  in  town 
to  his  staff  estopped  them  in  that  direction. 

We  called  up  on  the  long-distance  every  hour  to 
ascertain  where  the  train  was.  The  closer  it 


The  Master  Stroke  Page  83 

approached  the  county  seat,  the  harder  the  men 
worked — and  then  Hennessey,  who  seemed  to  be  agi 
tated  about  something,  suddenly  resigned. 

Everybody  swore  at  him,  called  him  a  traitor,  and 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  fact  that  the  business  in  hand 
was  of  such  a  serious  character,  he  would  have  had  to 
fight  the  crowd.  He  disappeared  down  the  hill  on  the 
tram. 

It  was  Saturday  afternoon,  and  the  special  was 
racing  to  reach  the  county  seat,  for  word  had  been  sent 
ahead,  and  the  Judge  indicated  that  he  would  hear  their 
side  in  chambers  that  evening.  The  train,  which  was 
due  at  seven  P.  M.,  did  not  arrive  on  time.  The  hours 
dragged  slowly.  At  I  o'clock  Sunday  morning  it 
came  in,  and  nothing  could  be  done  until  Monday 
morning.  It  seemed  that  the  special  was  held  at  a 
small  station  that  closed  at  six  P.  M.  until  the  passage 
of  an  ore  train  bound  to  the  smelter  in  the  valley. 
With  strange  irony,  it  was  a  train  bearing  Sherman's 
ore.  Another  curious  circumstance  was  the  fact  that 
the  ore  train  was  held  up  nearly  six  hours  at  a  flag 
station,  to  repair  some  defect  in  the  engine. 

Years  afterward  I  learned  that  Hennessey,  an  ex- 
locomotive  engineer  who  had  deserted  the  cab  to  pros- 


Page  84  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

pect,  had  told  the  engineer  of  an  out-going  ore  train 
that  his  wife  was  sick  and  offered  to  make  his  "run." 
Receiving  orders  at  the  county  seat  to  pass  the  special 
at  a  certain  point  down  the  road,  he  had  deliberately 
stopped  half-way  down,  and  spent  something  like  six 
hours  going  over  his  engine,  which,  he  declared,  was 
out  of  order. 

Sunday  night  he  returned  to  work.  Sherman  was 
absent. 

Monday  I  stepped  into  the  office  to  hear  Larsen 
say  over  the  'phone: 

"I  tank  not.  You  bedder  send  mon  up.  Meester 
Sherman,  he  not  here.  No,  I  tank  not,"  and  he  hung 
up  the  'phone. 

The  Vendetta  attorneys  had  obtained  an  injunction 
and  tried  to  get  the  big  Swede  to  accept  service,  but 
he  convinced  them  that  he  was  too  dense  to  understand. 
So  a  deputy  sheriff  started  up  the  gulch  on  a  special 
light  engine.  When  he  stepped  off  the  cab,  he  made 
straight  for  the  Consolidated  mill,  seeing  which,  Hen 
nessey  jumped  one  of  the  descending  tram  buckets  and 
was  soon  swinging  dizzily  over  the  gulch.  He  reached 
the  lower  terminal  before  the  deputy  did,  where  he  ex 
plained,  the  tender  afterward  told  me,  in  most  pictur- 


Hennessey  jumped  one  of 
the  descending  tram  buckets  and 
was  soon  swinging  dizzily  over 
the  gulch. 


The  Master  Stroke  Page  85 

esque  and  profane  language,  that  it  was  contrary  to 
rule  to  ride  the  tram — that  it  was  dangerous — and  he 
was  there  to  see  that  no  one  endangered  his  life  by 
disobeying  the  order.  The  deputy  stormed  and  threat 
ened,  but  Hennessey  stood  his  ground,  smiling — and 
aching  for  a  fight. 

The  deputy,  therefore,  had  to  reach  the  mine  via 
Trail,  which  would  take  two  hours  horseback. 

No  sooner  had  he  left  the  mill  than  Hennessey 
jumped  to  the  'phone,  and,  calling  up  Horrigan,  the 
livery  man,  ordered  him  to  hold  all  the  available 
horses,  pack  animals  and  the  like  subject  to  his  order. 
Horrigan  did  not  know  what  was  up,  but  from  Hen 
nessey's  excited  tone,  he  knew  there  was  something  in 
the  wind.  When  the  deputy  reached  the  stable,  he  dis 
covered  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  a  mount  in  the 
town.  So  he  started  to  climb  the  Trail  afoot,  and  that 
meant  that  he  would  not  reach  the  shaft  house  before 
nine  o'clock  that  night. 

After  he  was  well  on  his  way,  Hennessey  returned 
on  the  tram  in  twelve  minutes,  and  "squared"  himself 
for  his  prior  desertion  by  telling  what  he  had  done. 
That  night,  just  before  the  deputy  arrived  to  serve  his 
papers,  we  drew  the  fires,  pulled  the  pumps,  and  the 


Page  86  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

mine  commenced  to  fill  with  water.  The  plant  was 
idle  and  the  steam  and  air  lines  disconnected  when  he 
arrived. 

The  last  bucket  had  gone  down  on  the  tram  before 
the  deputy  reached  us.  We  had  all  learned  something, 
by  reason  of  the  interminable  litigation  that  had  surged 
about  us. 

During  the  time  we  had  operated  the  mine  we  had 
taken  out  $180,000  worth  of  ore,  at  a  cost  of  about 
$10,000,  and  this  was  on  the  way  to  the  smelter,  in  the 
name  of  the  trustees  of  the  mine. 

We  were  all  standing  on  the  dump,  tired  out,  but 
proud  of  the  work  performed,  when  we  heard  some 
one  slipping  on  the  slide  rock  above  us,  and  a  moment 
later  Sherman  stood  in  our  midst. 

"Where  have  you  been?"  I  asked. 

"Up  the  creek,  hunting  whales,"  was  his  reply. 

"An'  ye  hunted  until  ye  heard  the  machinery  stop," 
cried  Hennessey,  and  then  he  thumped  Sherman  on 
the  back  so  hard  that  he  nearly  knocked  him  down. 
We  were  all  amazed,  but,  turning  to  the  man,  quietly, 
Sherman  said: 

"Come  into  the  office,  Hennessey,  and  have  a 
cigar." 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Hn  1Hn&er0roun&  IRailroafc 

With  the  regularity  of  clockwork,  the  streak  of 
smelting  ore  in  the  Bonanza  workings  was  yielding 
a  carload  of  high  grade  a  week.  This,  with  the 
amount  we  had  taken  from  the  Treasure  shaft  during 
the  lapse  when  we  operated  it  under  pressure,  enabled 
Sherman  to  continue  work  at  the  Vendetta,  for  he  had 
borrowed  money  from  his  Eastern  friends  who  were 
holding  the  Consolidated  Group  in  trust.  Sherman 
had  guaranteed  the  Vendetta  Leasing  and  Develop 
ment  Company  against  any  loss,  and  this  he  lived  up  to 
by  giving  his  note  to  the  trustee  corporation,  and  try  as 
they  would  to  reach  him,  the  attorneys  for  the  other 
side  were  unable  to  do  so. 

His  enemies  were  now  hard  pressed — they  were 


Page  88  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

really  worse  off  than  he  was.  He  was  fighting  keen 
men,  who  had  been  squeezed  a  dozen  times  before,  and 
who  had  always  come  out  victorious.  They  had  a 
coterie  of  friends,  upon  whom  they  were  calling  for 
assistance.  They  were  bold,  and  never  hesitated  at 
enterprise,  and,  coupled  with  their  natural  commercial 
instinct,  they  were  piratical  in  their  tendencies,  licensed 
bandits  who  operated  under  cover  of  the  law.  It  was 
a  hard  combination  to  combat.  Every  man  who  had 
tried  it  in  the  past  had  been  ruined.  Every  compact 
formed  against  them  had  been  reduced  to  bankruptcy. 
Every  corporation  that  stood  in  their  path  had  been 
engulfed  in  an  ocean  of  misfortune,  and  families  had 
been  carried  down  from  a  plane  of  refinement  to  the 
level  of  paupers,  because  of  the  machinations  of  this 
gang  of  corporate  highwaymen,  in  order  to  warn  others 
not  to  stand  in  their  way.  Against  this  power,  wealth, 
influence,  bribery,  intimidation,  threats  and  business 
sagacity,  there  was  now  matched  the  genius  of  a  single 
man,  rough,  honest,  fearless — a  forlorn,  melancholy 
person,  who  hesitated  at  nothing  that  was  honorable, 
who  detested  and  spurned  anything  that  was  question 
able,  and  who  was  fighting  simply  for  his  rights,  and 
no  more. 


An  Underground  Railroad  Page  89 

The  struggle  had  extended  from  months  into  years, 
and  between  the  conflicting  interests  the  prosperity  of 
the  district  was  threatened.  Credits  in  many  lines  were 
withdrawn  mysteriously,  and  friends  of  Sherman  sud 
denly  found  themselves  embarrassed.  The  influence 
was  exerted  by  the  Vendetta  people — the  fault  was  laid 
at  Sherman's  door.  His  enemies  increased  as  the  diffi 
culties  of  the  people  multiplied,  and  gradually  senti 
ment  was  crystallizing  against  him. 

We  were  now  a  little  more  than  holding  our  own, 
and  would  probably  continue  to  do  so,  unless  Sherman 
made  a  false  move.  When  he  blundered,  the  cost 
usually  ran  into  six  figures. 

The  ore  bodies  developed  in  the  Great  Bonanza 
were  enormous,  but  Sherman  had  no  water  to  turn  the 
mill.  It  was  through  their  control  of  the  water  that 
his  enemies  hoped  to  conquer  him. 

If  we  pumped  from  the  Treasure  shaft,  we  could, 
by  piping  it  down  to  the  mill,  obtain  sufficient  to  run 
one  side  of  it — but  that  would  permit  the  engineers 
to  make  the  ground  survey  under  order  of  court. 
Sherman  would  not  consent  to  that.  Not  that  he  had 
anything  to  fear  as  a  result,  but  his  action  led  the  other 
side  to  belive  that  he  was  concealing  something,  and 


Page  90  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

they  were  trying  to  force  his  hand,  spending  thousands 
of  dollars  to  force  him  to  reveal  a  condition  that  would 
spell  their  ruin.  Why  Sherman  assumed  the  attitude 
he  did,  we  could  not  understand. 

We  were  talking  in  the  office  one  day,  when  he 
pointed  to  a  curious  formation  of  rock  far  up  on  the 
mountain,  for  all  the  world  like  an  extinct  dodo. 

"When  I  first  came  to  the  district,  years  ago,"  he 
said,  "I  located  a  claim  up  there,  and  called  it  the  Big 
Dodo.  Sank  a  hole,  but  the  water  ran  in  so  fast  I  had 
to  stop  work.  If  we  had  that  water  we  could  run  the 
mill.  Sometimes  I  have  thought  of  installing  a  pump 
up  there  and  going  to  work.  Good  ore  there." 

"The  trouble,  Sherman,"  I  said,  "is  that  it  would 
cost  too  much  to  get  supplies  up  to  that  point.  The 
dyke,  on  which  the  Big  Dodo  is  located,  is  doubtless 
the  one  along  which  the  major  portion  of  the  water  in 
this  hill  flows,  and  it  probably  feeds  all  of  these 
veins — " 

"The  very  thing !"  he  cried.  "It's  patent  that  we 
cannot  mine  from  the  surface.  So  we  must  get  under 
the  hill.  We  will  drive  a  tunnel  to  tap  the  vein  from 
which  the  water  flows,  and  get  a  supply  to  operate  the 
mill." 


An  Underground  Railroad  Page  91 

"The  cost?" 

"Never  mind  the  cost — that's  my  business.  Get  out 
the  surveyors,  and  start  the  bore  from  the  Wedge  frac 
tion  just  above  the  mill." 

"You  can  never  get  a  right  of  way  through  the  hill, 
for  after  you  are  in  twenty  feet  you  will  run  into 
ground  owned  by  the  common  enemy.  You  must  get 
easement  for  your  tunnel — " 

"I  understand  all  that — but  this  case  is  different." 

The  next  day  we  started  the  tunnel,  and  after  it 
had  been  driven  close  to  the  ground  of  the  adjoining 
claim  M'Cracken  appeared  to  ascertain  whether  or  not 
we  were  trespassing.  He  wanted  to  know  whether  he 
could  enter  and  examine. 

''You  may,"  answered  Sherman,  "but  I  can  tell  you 
now  that  we  will  enter  your  ground  tomorrow." 

M'Cracken  thanked  him,  warned  him  not  to  tres 
pass,  and  departed. 

This  was  the  time  to  have  temporized,  it  seemed  to 
me.  Sherman  said  "No." 

"This  is  the  time,"  he  explained,  "to  show  them  a 
thing  or  two.  Just  keep  your  advice  to  yourself,  and 
your  eyes  wide  open,  and  you  will  see  things  that  will 
give  these  fellows  a  nightmare." 


Page  92  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

He  was  served  with  more  papers — but  he  explained 
that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  any  mining  company 
that  was  driving  a  tunnel.  He  was  the  general  man 
ager,  he  said,  of  a  railroad  company,  organized  to  bore 
a  tunnel  through  the  mountain,  to  afford  transporta 
tion  to  any  and  all  mines  desiring  to  utilize  the  tracks, 
and  he  forthwith  commenced  condemnation  proceed 
ings — and  won  his  point,  in  behalf  of  the  Bonanza 
Railway  &  Transportation  Company. 

Six  months  later  the  breast  of  the  tunnel  reached 
a  great  barren  vein,  and  a  flow  of  water  was  tapped.  It 
was  conducted  from  the  portal  of  the  bore  to  the  mill 
in  a  wooden  flume — enough  to  permit  the  handling  of 
twenty-five  tons  of  ore  daily.  A  few  months  more,  and 
another  water  course  was  cut.  Within  a  year  or  so  we 
had  sufficient  water  to  run  the  mill  full  blast. 

The  Consolidated  Company  was  on  a  paying  basis. 

Sherman  was  borrowing  money  from  the  company 
and  settling  his  debts.  Soon  everything  was  paid  ex 
cept  the  note  for  $150,000  held  by  his  enemies — he  re 
fused  to  borrow  to  pay  that.  Work  on  the  Vendetta 
proceeded  steadily.  Richer  ore  was  opened,  but  not  a 
ton  was  shipped — his  enemies  were  growing  poorer 
and  poorer.  The  district  began  to  share  in  the  pros- 


An  Underground  Railroad  Page  93 

perity  of  the  Consolidated  Group.  There  were  daily 
conferences  in  an  attempt  to  settle  the  difference,  and 
one  day  we  heard  that  his  enemies  owed  $150,000  to  a 
bank  in  the  East,  When  Sherman  learned  that  he 
wrote  a  long  letter  to  an  Eastern  city,  and  in  three 
weeks  he  laid  on  the  table  in  the  Consolidated  office  his 
enemies'  notes,  several  months  overdue,  for  $150,000. 

"This  is  no  Delusion,  either,"  he  said,  sententiously. 

The  next  morning  Powers  was  at  the  mine.  Sher 
man  explained,  and  Powers  stuck  his  thumbs  in  the 
arm  holes  of  his  vest,  and  strutted  about  like  a  bantam, 
repeating : 

"Oh,  I  guess  not." 

"Now,  Powers,"  said  Sherman,  "I  do  not  wish  to 
witness  their  misery.  You  will  trade  notes  with  them 
— this  note  for  mine,  on  even  terms." 

"But,  Sherman,"  said  Powers,  "this  note  is  secured 
by  the  Vendetta  property — you  can  take  the  mine  from 
them  bag  and  baggage.  If  they  had  you  in  the  same 
hole,  they—" 

"Never  mind  what  they  would  do — I  am  not  gov 
erned  by  their  actions.  I  don't  want  their  mine.  I 
only  want  what  belongs  to  me.  I  am  not  a  Shylock. 
Trade  the  notes." 


Page  94  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

Within  twenty-four  hours  the  exchange  had  been 
effected,  and  not  a  cloud  marred  Sherman's  financial 
sky. 

The  Treasure  and  the  Alligator,  and  the  claims  that 
intersected  the  Great  Bonanza,  were  still  tied  up — but 
so  was  the  Vendetta,  and  as  Sherman's  lease  ran  for 
twenty  years,  and  he  now  had  an  abundance  of  money, 
it  seemed  that  he  had  the  best  of  the  argument. 

I  mentioned  this  to  him,  and  asked  him  if  he  had 
any  definite  plan. 

"I  have,"  he  replied. 

"May  I  ask  what  you  intend  to  do?" 

"You  may." 

"What?" 

"They  have  cooked  up  a  hell  broth  for  me,  and  I  in 
tend  to  make  them  swallow  their  own  medicine." 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


Jumping  tbe  Golfcen  /Boon 

"I  can  get  half  a  million  dollars  for  the  Fortune 
Dike  within  30  days — and  I  need  the  money,"  said 
Sherman. 

I  had  never  heard  of  the  property,  much  less  its 
worth,  and  I  said  so. 

"Of  course  not.  It  has  not  been  located  yet.  But  it 
will  be  tonight." 

It  was  the  last  day  of  the  year,  and  a  mighty  cold 
one.  The  sky  was  changing  from  steely  blue  to  a  yel 
lowish,  leaden  color,  that  promised  a  heavy  fall  of 
snow. 

All  the  men  about  the  mine  who  were  not  working, 
or  sleeping,  were  busy  oiling  "digging  shoes"  for  mys 
terious  pilgrimages  in  the  evening. 

"You  remember  the  Golden  Moon,  don't  you?" 
asked  Sherman.  "Well,  it  belongs  to  old  man  Corson. 


Page  96  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

Had  a  fellow  up  to  look  at  it  about  three  months  ago, 
and  he  offered  me  that  sum  for  it,  providing  I  could 
deliver  it  by  February  I." 

"But  you  don't  own  it — " 

"I  am  aware  of  that.  As  I  was  saying,  the  prop 
erty  belongs  to  Corson — or  will  until  midnight — then 
it  will  be  mine,  for  I  intend  to  change  the  name  to  the 
Fortune  Dike.  Understand?" 

When  you  locate  a  mining  claim  the  law  requires 
you  to  sink  a  hole  on  a  mineral-bearing  vein,  not  less 
than  ten  feet  deep.  That  constitutes  your  assessment 
work,  and  it  holds  good  until  the  midnight  of  December 
31  following.  After  that  you  must  do  $100  worth  of 
work  annually  before  the  whistles  announce  the  birth 
of  a  new  year.  When  you  have  done  $500  of  work, 
you  may  acquire  a  patent — if  you  don't,  you  must  con 
tinue  the  assessment  work  until  you  do.  If  you  fail, 
you  give  notice  to  the  world  that  you  have  abandoned 
the  claim. 

Corson  was  a  poor  old  miner,  who  had  been  injured 
a  few  years  before.  He  had  a  large  family  and  was  in 
debt  to  pretty  nearly  everybody.  He  had  been  unable 
to  do  the  work  this  year,  and  Sherman  was  calmly  cal 
culating  to  "jump"  his  claim. 


Jumping  the  Golden  Moon  Page  97 

"You  could  buy  the  old  fellow  out  for  a  few  thou 
sand,"  I  said,  "and  do  the  work.  The  claim  is  sup 
posed  to  be  valuable — there  will  be  dozens  of  others  on 
the  ground — possibly  a  little  argument  with  shooting 
irons." 

"\  es,  and  I  can  save  the  couple  of  thousand  by  lo 
cating  it  myself.  And  there  will  not  be  any  shooting. 
No  blood  shed.  I  don't  fight  that  way.  That  claim  be 
longs  to  me — or  will  tomorrow,  January  I.  Is  that 
plain?  Glad  you  understand.  Awful  lonely  trip  up 
there — so  I'm  going  to  take  you  along,  for  company." 

Pleasant  prospect,  this  matter  of  going  out  to  jump 
a  claim,  and  possibly  have  your  skin  cultivated  with  bul 
lets.  It  was  Sherman's  method — throw  away  a  small 
fortune  on  litigation — and  deny  it  to  some  worthy  old 
man  like  Corson — but  he  excused  himself  on  the 
ground  that  Corson's  condition  was  none  of  his  busi 
ness.  He  provided  handsomely  for  men  injured  in  his 
employ,  and  he  could  not  afford  to  worry  about  others. 

Shortly  after  five  o'clock  we  "hit"  the  trail  for 
town,  where  we  were  to  get  a  buckboard  for  the  trip, 
for  this  property  was  located  up  at  the  Forks.  When  we 
reached  the  village,  I  discovered  that  in  his  loose  way 
of  doing  business,  that  he  had  actually  failed  to  arrange 


Page  98  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

for  a  team.  He  took  it  for  granted  that  there  would 
be  no  trouble  in  renting  one — as  though  he  was  the 
only  man  on  earth  who  intended  to  go  out  on  a  claim- 
jumping  expedition  on  the  last  night  of  the  year. 

"Pay  you  double  price  for  a  team,"  he  said  to  the 
liveryman. 

That  individual  laughed. 

"If  anybody  could  get  a  team  here,  Sherman,  you 
are  the  man,  for  you  pay  me  a  lot  of  money  during  the 
course  of  a  month  for  burros  and  the  like — but  every 
team  I  have  is  rented — and  has  been  for  six  weeks." 

Sherman's  jaws  set.  Stepping  into  the  half -heated, 
poorly-ventilated  room,  which  served  as  an  office,  he 
sat  and  waited.  As  the  men  who  had  hired  animals 
came  in,  Sherman  tried  to  dicker  with  them.  He 
finally  gave  one  man  $2,000  for  the  right  to  a  span  of 
big  Missouri  mules  and  a  light  buckboard.  The  news 
that  he  had  paid  so  much  spread  over  the  town  like 
wildfire.  It  presaged  trouble.  It  meant  that  half  the 
population  would  follow  us,  if  it  could  obtain  convey 
ances.  But  he  was  not  satisfied.  He  rented  two  more 
monster  mules,  and  had  them  harnessed.  Then  he 
hired  as  driver  a  man  who  had  handled  the  ribbons  on 
the  stage  before  the  railway  had  pushed  up  from  the 


Jumping  the  Golden  Moon  Page  99 

county  seat.  We  piled  into  the  wagon,  the  driver  in  the 
middle. 

"Where?"  asked  the  ex-stage  man. 

"Up  the  gulch." 

Three  or  four  horsemen  hung  on  our  wheel,  and  a 
string  of  vehicles  stretched  out  behind  us.  We 
certainly  had  lots  of  company.  The  snow  was  very 
deep —  and  after  an  hour  the  rigs  began  to  lag — and 
some  of  the  saddle  animals  were  showing  signs  of 
weariness,  but  those  four  Missouri  mules  had  to  be 
shown.  They  pulled  along  as  though  they  were  in  a 
habit  of  stepping  through  snow  hock  deep.  As  we 
followed  the  winding  river  road,  the  snow  grew  deeper, 
for  the  highway  was  less  traveled.  The  country  became 
more  rugged,  and  after  a  time  only  two  horsemen  re 
mained  with  us. 

"How  long  will  it  be  before  these  animals  wear  out 
those  saddlers  ?"  he  asked. 

A  critical  glance,  and  Simpson,  the  driver,  said : 

"They  can  last  as  long  as  these  mules,  old  man." 

"Stop  the  team." 

When  the  mounted  men  came  up,  Sherman  asked: 

"You  fellows  want  some  work?  If  you  do,  I  have 
a  job  for  you." 


Page  100  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

"We  were  going  up  in  the  hills  to  locate  a  claim, 
and " 

*'I  know — but  I  saw  it  first.  I  want  you  fellows  to 
carry  a  message  for  me — one  of  you  to  the  mine — the 
other  to  Horrigan."  Horrigan  was  the  liveryman. 
"I'll  pay  $1,000  each." 

Sherman's  word  was  as  good  as  gold.  The  men 
hesitated  a  moment.  If  Sherman  placed  the  price  at 
$1,000,  it  was  all  he  would  pay — there  was  no  use  try 
ing  to  raise.  They  agreed. 

"You,"  to  one  of  the  horsemen,  "go  to  town  and 
telephone  Larson,  at  the  mine,  that  I  will  be  back  in 
me  morning.  You/'  to  the  other  man,  "tell  Horrigan 
that  I  shall  want  this  team  all  day  tomorrow." 

They  turned,  and  we  continued  upward,  just  as  the 
snow  began  to  descend  from  out  of  those  leaden  clouds. 
It  came  down  faster,  and  soon  it  was  difficult  to  see 
more  than  a  hundred  feet  ahead.  Suddenly  the  driver 
pointed  at  the  road.  There  were  wagon  tracks  ahead, 
which  the  fresh  falling  snow  had  not  yet  covered. 
Sherman's  eye  took  on  that  cold  expression  one  notes 
when  he  is  hard  pressed.  He  glanced  at  the  driver  and 
then  asked: 

*'Can  these  animals  stand  more  speed  ?" 


Jumping  the  Golden  Moon  Page  101 

"Those  tracks  are  only  an  hour  old — how  much 
farther  must  we  go  ?  Eight  miles  ?  Leave  it  to  me." 

The  animals  were  not  crowded.  We  were  moving 
along  at  the  same  rate  we  had  been  for  the  past  hour, 
and  the  new  snow  was  rapidly  filling  in  the  tracks,  it 
seemed  to  me,  but  the  driver  insisted  that  we  were 
steadily  gaining.  Another  hour,  we  came  to  a  blan 
keted  team,  tied  to  a  fallen  tree. 

"They  couldn't  go  any  further,"  ventured  Simpson. 

Our  mules  plodded  along,  but  they  were  beginning 
to  breathe  heavily.  After  a  while,  we  noticed  partly 
covered  footprints  in  the  snow — the  tracks  of  the  men 
who  had  abandoned  the  team  we  had  passed.  This 
continued  for  a  long  time.  Now  the  driver  was  using 
the  whip.  Finally,  when  the  animals  were  in  snow  to 
their  bellies,  and  the  dashboard  was  bent  by  contact 
with  the  half  icy  particles,  the  mules  stopped. 

"It's  all  off,"  announced  Simpson,  turning  to  Sher 
man  for  orders. 

"We'll  walk,"  he  said.  "You  stay  here  with  the 
animals." 

"Not  on  your  life.  I  don't  have  to  come  here  to 
stay  with  animals.  I  can  do  that  in  town.  I've  enlisted 
for  this  night,  and  I'm  going  to  see  you  through.  You 


Page  102  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

may  need  me,"  and  he  tapped  his  coat  pocket  signifi 
cantly. 

"W-you  got  there?"  demanded  Sherman. 

The  fellow  pulled  out  about  the  ugliest-looking 
long-barrel  revolver  I  ever  saw  in  my  life.  Sherman's 
eyes  narrowed. 

"Look  here,  Sherman,"  said  Simpson,  speaking  rap 
idly.  "I  never  spoke  to  you  before  in  my  life  until 
tonight.  I  have  been  one  of  those  down  in  town  who 
have  cussed  you  for  all  that  is  out,  but  since  this  trip 
I'd  go  anywhere  with  you.  There's  trouble  brewing 
ahead — I'm  in  your  service  tonight,  and  I'll  make  it  go 
hard  with  the  man  who  harms  you." 

"No  man  will  harm  me,"  he  answered  slowly,  "for 
I  have  harmed  no  one — you  can  come — but  on  condi 
tion  that  you  put  up  that  gun — and  don't  use  it — unless 
I  tell  you  to." 

"It's  a  go." 

Then  we  commenced  to  plod  through  the  snow,  up 
to  our  waists.  The  driver  was  ahead.  Soon  he  was 
exhausted.  Sherman  took  the  lead,  then  I  took  a  turn. 
Eight  or  ten  feet,  and  we  would  have  to  stop  for  a 
breathing  spell,  when 

"Good  evening,  gentlemen." 


Jumping  the  Golden  Moon  Page  103 

We  were  looking  along  the  barrels  of  three  revolv 
ers.  We  had  overtaken  the  party  ahead  of  us  and  they 
had  the  "drop."  The  driver's  eye  seemed  to  take  in  all 
men  together.  Sherman  glanced  and  said  quietly : 

''You  are  not  to  get  into  action  under  any  circum 
stances.  We  will  settle  this  peaceably.  What  can  I  do 
for  you,  gentlemen  ?"  addressing  the  men  ahead  of  us. 
His  tone  was  very  even. 

"Well,  if  it's  just  the  same  to  you,  we  would  rather 
have  you  turn  back." 

"I  thought  of  that,"  drawled  Sherman,  "but  fact  of 
the  matter  is,  I  have  urgent  business  ahead." 

"You  are  going  to  Corson's  property." 

"I  am  going  to  locate  it — yes,  sir." 

"You  are  not." 

"No?"  asked  Sherman  as  though  surprised.  "Why?" 

"Because  we  will  prevent  it." 

"How?" 

"By  force  of  arms." 

Then  they  parleyed.  It  was  decided  after  a  mo 
ment  that  Sherman  should  locate  the  claim,  and  they 
were  to  be  partners,  he  to  guarantee  them  not  less 
than  $10,000  each  for  their  share,  within  30  days.  This 
thing  of  jumping  old  man  Corson's  claim  was  coming 


Page  10  Jf  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

pretty  high.  We  started  again,  when  one  of  the  party 
who  had  stopped  us  ejaculated: 

"Well,  I'll  be  damned!" 

''What's  the  matter?"  asked  Sherman. 

"Some  one's  ahead  of  us." 

We  were  on  a  sheltered  portion  of  the  trail  now, 
and  there,  in  front  of  us,  was  the  track  of  some  one 
who  had  gone  before.  It  must  have  been  hours  pre 
vious,  for  the  footprints  in  the  snow  were  covered, 
except  at  this  point.  We  commenced  to  push  upward 
again.  The  mine  whistles  announced  the  birth  of  a 
new  year.  We  plunged  on,  for  the  dinky  little  shed 
that  served  as  Corson's  blacksmith  shop  was  outlined 
against  the  sky  now. 

After  twenty  minutes  more  we  stood  on  the  dump, 
and  there,  in  front  of  us,  was  a  new  monument  of 
rocks,  six  inches  higher  than  the  required  four  feet, 
and  in  a  tightly  closed  tin  can,  protected  from  the 
weather,  a  location  notice,  showing  that  the  property 
was  claimed  by  E.  Corson. 

"Who  the  'ell  is  E.  Corson?" 

We  glanced  at  each  other ;  we  had  been  outwitted. 
Then  we  started  for  the  blacksmith  shop,  when  the 
driver  stumbled  over  something. 


Jumping  the  Golden  Moon  Page  105 

"Great  God !"  he  cried,  and  lifted  up  out  of  the  snow 
the  slender  form  of  Ethel  Corson,  the  eldest  daughter 
of  the  man  whose  claim  we  had  tried  so  hard  to  get. 

We  glanced  at  each  other.  Right  there,  on  that 
mine  dump,  nearly  12,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
every  man  among  us  looked  mighty  sheepish.  I  know 
how  I  felt,  and  Simpson  said  afterward  that  he  felt  as 
though  he  was  robbing  a  grave.  Simpson  carried  her 
into  the  blacksmith  shop,  where  a  fire  was  built,  for 
she  was  nearly  frozen.  Sherman  took  the  driver  aside, 
spoke  to  him  in  low  tones  a  moment,  and  then,  taking 
off  his  great  shabby  overcoat,  handed  it  to  him,  turned 
and  disappeared  into  the  snowstorm. 

When  that  young  woman  returned  to  consciousness 
she  was  nearly  frightened  to  death,  I  guess,  at  the 
sight  of  five  men,  who  must  have  looked  like  a  lot  of 
bandits. 

"Oh,"  she  said,  appealingly,  "you  would  not  take 
my  father's  claim?  It  is  all  we  have.  He  is  crippled 
and  nearly  blind — there  are  so  many  of  us,  and  we  are 
so  poor.  We " 

And  then  that  fool  Simpson  blubbered  out  like  a 
child,  and — well,  I  guess  we  all  forgot  we  were  grown 
up  men. 


Page  106  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

"Never  mind,  little  girl,"  Simpson  said,  "they  ain't 
nobody  going  to  get  this  here  claim  from  you.  One  of 
you  fellows  go  out  and  get  that  location  notice." 

It  was  done,  and  we  all  signed  it  as  witnesses  to 
the  fact  that  Ethel  Corson  had  legally  located  the 
ground,  which  she  had  renamed  the  Reindeer.  Then 
Simpson  wrapped  her  up  in  Sherman's  thick  coat,  and, 
picking  her  up  like  a  child,  stumbled  over  the  trail.  It 
took  a  long  time,  but  at  last  we  reached  the  team,  and 
started  down  the  river,  arriving  at  Corson's  house  in 
town  shortly  after  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Santa 
Claus,  who  had  been  unable  to  find  the  place  Christ 
mas  night,  must  have  paid  it  an  early  New  Year's 
morning  visit,  for  there  were  enough  groceries  and 
supplies  piled  up  in  the  little  log  hut  to  stock  a  family 
for  weeks,  and  everybody,  even  the  crippled  old  man, 
seemed  to  be  in  the  best  of  humor  and  tearfully  happy. 
After  a  few  moments,  during  which  the  girl  thanked 
Simpson  for  his  kindness,  which  was  added  to  in  a 
vacant  manner  by  the  family,  we  withdrew. 

That  afternoon  I  reached  the  mine,  more  dead 
than  alive,  to  find  Sherman  presiding  over  a  fat  tur 
key,  which  I  helped  him  to  devour. 

One  day,  about  a  month  later,  when  the  mail  came 


"Never     mind,     little 
Simpson  said,  "they  ain't  nobody 
this    here    claim 


to 


get 


Jumping  the  Golden  Moon  Page  107 

in,  there  was  a  long  letter  bearing  the  return  of  a  bank 
in  the  county  seat.  It  was  rather  a  bulky  missive, 
which  Sherman  held  up  and  said : 

"Know  what's  in  that  envelope?" 

"No,"  I  answered;  "I'm  not  gifted  with  second 
sight." 

"That,"  said  Sherman,  "is  a  deed  to  the  Reindeer/' 

He  broke  the  seal  and  tossed  the  envelope  over  to 
me.  It  contained  a  deed  for  the  claim,  signed  by 
Ethel  Corson,  to  a  person  whose  name  I  never  heard 
before,  for  a  consideration  of  $500,000. 

With  the  papers  was  a  note  from  the  bank,  to  the 
effect  that  old  man  Corson  had  paid  to  Sherman's 
credit  all  the  money  he  had  expended  on  that  stormy 
December  night,  with  one  year's  interest  at  eight  per 
cent,  in  advance.  This  consisted  of  the  money  he  had 
paid  for  the  team  and  to  the  two  horsemen  for  turning 
back. 

The  girl  had  fairly  won  the  prize.  A  few  days  later 
the  Corson's  moved  away. 

It  was  not  until  after  Sherman's  death  that  I  got  all 
the  details,  and  then  they  came  from  Simpson,  who 
told  me  that  in  the  few  moments  Sherman  talked  to 
him  on  the  Reindeer  dump  he  told  him  to  carry  the 


Page  108 The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

girl  to  her  father,  "get  her  there  if  you  have  to  kill  the 
mules/'  he  had  said. 

Sherman  himself  took  a  short  cut  to  the  gulch  by 
risking  his  life  down  the  side  of  a  mountain  that  no 
man  had  ever  attempted  before  or  has  dared  to  since. 
He  aroused  the  grocer  and  bought  those  provisions, 
and  then  he  saw  old  man  Corson,  told  him  what  had 
happened,  explained  the  price  he  was  to  get  and  ar 
ranged  the  deal.  Corson  wanted  to  pay  $10,000  each 
to  the  three  men  who  had  stopped  us.  No;  Sherman 
would  not  allow  that. 

"That  was  only  in  case  I  got  the  claim,"  he  ex 
plained;  "and — I  was  too  slow." 

He  made  the  old  man  promise  to  move  East,  quit 
mining,  buy  government  bonds  and  place  his  children 
in  school — and  give  half  the  money  to  the  girl.  We 
never  heard  of  them  again. 

To  Simpson  he  gave  out  of  his  own  pocket  $5,000 
— and  at  a  moment  when  his  stock  of  money  was  at  the 
lowest  ebb  I  had  ever  known  it  to  be. 

Afterward  Sherman  was  sued  by  the  three  men 
who  had  stopped  us  in  the  trail,  for  $10,000  each,  but 
he  wore  them  out  in  the  courts. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


tlbe  dDan  Eater 

Sherman  was  outputting  250  tons  of  mill  dirt  daily, 
and  in  consequence  of  such  a  great  quantity  of  low 
grade  coming  from  the  mine,  we  were  sending  to  the 
smelter  a  larger  amount  of  smelting  rock.  He  was 
on  a  profitable  basis,  while  his  enemies  were  closed 
down,  and  by  reason  of  the  vice-like  grip  he  held  on 
the  Vendetta,  he  was  slowly  forcing  them  to  the  wall. 

They  tried  to  compromise,  but  he  would  not  listen. 
They  had  forced  the  owner  of  the  Delusion  to  consoli 
date  with  them,  in  order  that  they  might  mine  the  rich 
ore  from  the  Dog  Faced  Man, 

"Before  you  come  to  terms  with  these  people," 
Sherman  had  told  him,  "see  me.  No  matter  what  kind 
of  a  proposition  they  make  you,  I  will  go  them  one 
better.  But  I  must  see  theirs  in  black  and  white,  that's 
the  way  they  deal  when  it  comes  to  handling  property." 


Page  110  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

Now  the  man  had  signed  an  agreement  to  work 
in  harmony  with  Sherman's  enemies,  and  to  use  a 
portion  of  his  share  of  the  revenue  to  fight  Sherman 
with. 

There  was  great  indignation  because  of  this,  for 
everybody  knew  that  Sherman  had  loaned  him  money 
to  clear  the  mortgage  on  his  home  at  a  time  when  he 
was  badly  involved,  and  could  illy  afford  it,  and  with 
out  the  formality  of  a  note.  The  loan  had  never  been 
repaid. 

Hennessey,  who  had  developed  into  a  rumor  fac 
tory,  brought  the  news  up  from  the  county  seat  one 
night.  He  was  fighting  mad,  and  while  attempting  to 
explain  to  Sherman,  he  was  cut  off  with  the  remark : 

"I  know  all  about  it — I  have  known  it  for  three 
days." 

That  night  a  deputy  sheriff  rode  up  the  Trail,  and 
served  more  papers  on  Sherman,  alleging  damages  be 
cause  of  the  prolonged  shut-down,  and  suing  for  the 
value  of  the  ore  they  might  have  taken  out. 

"This  suit,"  said  Sherman,  "is  simply  a  blind,  to 
occupy  my  mind  at  a  time  when  they  propose  to  work 
the  Delusion  and  the  Dog  Faced  Man.  They  do  not 
know  what  I  might  do." 


The  Man  Eater  Page  111 

The  next  day  another  suit  was  filed,  asking  him  to 
commence  producing  ore  from  the  Vendetta,  and  alleg 
ing  that  he  was  seeking  to  encompass  the  ruin  of  the 
owners. 

It  looked  to  me  as  though  they  had  made  a  good 
point,  and  I  said  so. 

"Looks  are  frequently  deceiving,"  was  the  dry 
response.  ''I  am  not  trying  to  ruin  them.  I  am  trying 
to  obtain  my  rights  in  the  only  manner  possible.  Keep 
your  eye  on  me,  and  you  will  see  the  wheels  go  round." 

The  next  morning  he  walked  across  the  dining 
room  to  where  Hennessey  was  sitting,  and  said : 

"I  have  decided  to  start  work  on  the  Man  Eater, 
and  you  are  to  be  superintendent.  Come  into  the 
office." 

Hennessey  was  dumbfounded.    So  was  everybody. 

The  Man  Eater  was  a  claim  that  lay  above  the  Dog 
Faced  Man,  and  Hennessey  took  possession  before 
noon.  Along  toward  night  word  reached  us  that  he 
had  thrashed  one  of  the  owners  of  the  Vendetta  for 
making  fun  of  Sherman.  We  had  a  fire-eater  in  charge 
of  the  Man  Eater. 

The  Man  Eater  vein  was  a  split  from  that  of  the 
Dog  Faced  Man.  Sherman  claimed  an  apex,  and  like- 


Page  112  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

wise  brought  suit  to  set  aside  the  consolidation  of  the 
Delusion  and  the  Dog  Faced  Man,  on  account  of  his 
previous  oral  agreement,  and  the  two  claims  were  en 
joined  from  working.  Sherman  had  effectually  back 
fired  his  enemies. 

While  Sherman  was  filing  these  suits,  Hennessey 
dressed  down  one  of  the  Vendetta  attorneys,  who  went 
up  to  protest,  and  then  he  announced  that  he  would 
whip  any  man  who  bothered  him,  or,  "If  I  just  think 
he  is  going  to  bother  me,"  he  concluded. 

This  was  rather  wide  latitude,  for  the  Irishman 
seemed  to  have  set  up  a  dictatorship  in  that  neighbor 
hood.  They  came  into  court  and  charged  him  with 
assault  and  battery,  and  intent  to  do  great  bodily  harm, 
and  asked  that  he  be  placed  under  bonds  to  keep  the 
peace.  On  the  strength  of  that  he  whipped  one  of 
their  foremen.  Things  were  getting  serious  now,  and 
Sherman  was  charged  with  attempting,  through  Hen 
nessey  and  a  ''gang  of  thugs,"  to  incite  riot. 

Sherman  disclaimed  all  knowledge  of  Hennessey's 
acts — in  fact,  he  deplored  them. 

"I  do  not  approve  of  violence.  Never  struck  a  man 
in  my  life.  This  man  Hennessey  is  guilty.  Fine  him. 
I  will  pay  the  fine,  not  because  I  indorse  him,  but  be- 


The  Man  Eater  Page  113 

cause  I,  as  his  employer,  am  responsible  for  his  actions, 
a  curious  position,  to  be  sure,  but  a  fact,  nevertheless/' 

Hennessey  was  fined  $1,000  and  sentenced  to  ninety 
days  in  the  county  jail.  Sentence  was  suspended  dur 
ing  good  behavior,  and  in  addition  he  was  placed  under 
bonds  of  $5,000  to  keep  the  peace. 

"I  adopt  this  method,"  said  the  Court,  "because  by 
it  you  are  more  likely  to  obey  this  order." 

It  was  a  fact.  Hennessey's  hands  were  tied,  but 
his  tongue  was  unbridled. 

Sherman  was  in  court  pretty  much  all  of  the  time 
now,  but  because  he  had  nothing  to  conceal  he  came 
out  unscathed.  Every  employe  of  the  Consolidated 
Company  was  brought  into  court,  to  ascertain  whether 
they  knew  anything  of  Sherman's  motive,  but  all  said 
that  he  had  never  discussed  his  plans  with  them. 

In  the  meantime  other  suits  were  filed — the  tangled 
mass  of  litigation  nearly  drove  all  to  distraction,  except 
Sherman,  who  was  as  serene  as  ever. 

Hennessey,  in  trying  to  prove  up  the  Apex  case  of 
the  Man  Eater,  was  making  some  costly  blunders,  and 
I  protested,  but  Sherman  said  he  was  doing  no  worse 
than  the  other  side  had  done. 

One  day,  in  court,  just  as  it  seemed  that  Sherman 


Page  114  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

would  get  a  decision,  by  asking  that  the  Treasure- 
Alligator  case  be  dismissed,  his  attorneys  suddenly 
began  to  object  and  obstruct.  This  change  of  tactics 
was  a  surprise,  and  court  adjourned  for  the  term. 

In  Powers'  office,  afterward,  one  of  the  outside 
lawyers  asked: 

"Why  did  you  make  us  do  that?  We  could  have 
obtained  the  decision.  Those  fellows  have  no  case." 

"I  know  that,  too.  That  is  the  reason  I  wanted  you 
to  object.  They  will  think  we  have  overlooked  some 
thing.  Hunting  for  that  loophole  will  keep  them  bus 
ier  than  searching  for  a  needle  on  a  hay  ranch.  In  the 
meantime,  I  shall  be  satisfied." 

Hennessey  was  still  blundering  on  the  Man  Eater. 

"These  people  will  charge  that  you  have  instructed 
Hennessey  to  act  that  way  purposely,"  I  said  one  day. 

"In  court,  you  mean?" 

"Yes." 

*'No.  This  case  will  never  go  to  court  again,  except 
to  be  dismissed.  That  will  happen  before  the  snow 
flies.  After  they  fail  to  find  what  they  have  been  hunt 
ing  for,  they  will  realize  their  position.  Then  we  shall 
have  peace — on  my  terms,  which  will  be  just.  That  is 
all  I  want." 


The  Man  Eater  Page  115 

The  months  dragged  along,  and  one  day  the  camp 
was  thrilled  by  the  announcement  that  the  cases  had 
been  dismissed.  That  night  steam  was  raised  at  the 
Vendetta  mill,  and  Powers  called  me  up  to  instruct  me 
to  start  the  pumps  in  the  Treasure  shaft,  a  duty  that 
Sherman,  with  a  fine  sense  of  honor,  had  delegated 
to  him. 

"Just  to  think,"  Sherman  said  that  evening  in  the 
office,  "of  all  the  trouble  those  fellows  could  have 
saved  themselves." 

I  was  burning  with  curiosity. 

"How  did  you  settle  with  them,  Sherman?" 

"They  deed  me  all  the  claims  that  intersect  the 
Great  Bonanza,  and  which  they  led  me  to  believe  I  was 
buying  in  the  first  place.  In  addition,  they  reimburse 
me  for  all  the  money  I  have  expended  on  the  Ven 
detta.  As  they  have  no  money,  I  accept  bonds  for  the 
amount,  something  less  than  $200,000 — but  we  call  it 
$200,000  for  good  measure.  The  bank  purchases  the 
bonds.  They  deed  me  the  Dog  Faced  Man.  The 
owner  of  the  Delusion  gives  me  seven-tenths  interest 
in  his  claim,  and  I  agreed  to  purchase  his  three-tenths 
for  $30,000.  Paid  the  money.  I  have  sold  that  group, 
including  the  Man  Eater,  for  a  little  matter  of  $250,000 


Page  116  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

— to  the  Vendetta  people.  They  give  bonds — the  bank 
takes  those  bonds  off  my  hands  also.  All  litigation  is 
wiped  out.  Everything  is  harmonious — now." 

He  watched  the  smoke  curl  upward  from  his  cigar, 
and  then  said : 

"It  was  all  due  to  the  Man  Eater,  however.  I 
bought  that  claim  the  day  after  they  commenced  to 
harass  me  from  the  Alligator,  for  I  felt  that  they  would 
attack  me  from  all  sides.  Then  I  made  the  deal  with 
the  Delusion — just  as  a  safeguard,  in  case  I  was  forced 
to  realize  a  large  sum  of  money  suddenly." 

I  gazed  at  him  in  astonishment.  While  we  thought 
he  was  blundering,  he  was  methodically  following  a 
carefully-laid  plan. 

He  looked  at  me  in  amusement  for  a  moment,  and 
then  said,  quietly: 

"I  am  not  so  green  as  I  look — if  an  occasional  cow 
does  take  my  trail." 


CHAPTER  X. 


Sberman's  Uraaic  Beatb 


With  litigation  on  the  Consolidated  ended,  the  rich 
ore  measures  of  the  Treasure,  where  it  intersected  the 
Great  Bonanza,  were  developed.  The  magnitude  of 
the  wealth  of  that  deposit  was  appalling.  As  the  shaft 
went  deeper,  the  grade  of  the  ore  was  lower,  but  the 
width  was  steadily  increasing,  and,  because  of  the 
expense  of  pumping,  we  drove  the  tunnel  to  undercut 
the  vein,  and  drain  it.  This  resulted  in  a  great  saving, 
and  in  addition  afforded  ventilation  for  the  mines,  for 
prior  to  that  we  employed  blowing  engines  to  send 
air  down  into  the  property.  The  bore  also  furnished 
an  avenue  through  which  to  transport  considerable  of 
the  ore  to  the  mill. 

Sherman's  policy  was  now  to  develop,  and  while  he 
did  not  say  so,  from  the  number  of  letters  that  passed 
to  and  from  a  foreign  city,  I  fancied  that  he  was  about 
to  sell  the  mine. 


Page  118  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

One  day  a  corps  of  engineers  appeared,  but  no 
intimation  of  their  purpose  was  to  be  given.  Sherman 
called  Hennessey  aside,  and  told  him  that  these  men 
were  here  to  ascertain  whether  the  lower  grades  of  ore 
in  the  mine  could  be  treated,  and  if  so,  an  addition  was 
to  be  built  to  the  mill.  This  was  a  fact,  but  he  did  not 
tell  all. 

"This,"  said  Sherman,  "is  between  you  and  me, 
Hennessey.  I  would  not  tell  all  I  know  to  the  others. 
They  talk  too  much." 

"Sure,  I  am  as  dumb  as  a  clam." 

Within  an  hour  he  had  told  it  to  the  cook,  the  cook 
repeated  it,  with  embellishments,  to  one  of  the  tram 
mers,  and  he,  in  turn,  to  one  of  the  shift  bosses.  By 
noon  it  was  repeated  at  the  mill,  and  that  night  it 
reached  the  county  seat  in  the  shape  of  a  positive  state 
ment  that  a  plant  that  would  treat  1,000  tons  of  ore 
daily  was  to  be  erected  at  once.  That  evening  Hen 
nessey  imparted  the  story  to  me  under  pledge  of 
secrecy,  stating  that  he  had  received  it  "straight"  from 
a  man  who  knew. 

The  next  day  he  would  go  on  the  stand  and  swear 
to  it,  for  he  believed  that  the  story  he  had  uncon 
sciously  scattered  was  the  truth. 


Sherman's  Tragic  Death  Page  119 

Finally  everything  checked  out,  the  deal  had  been 
completed,  and  the  money  paid.  The  mine  was  to  be 
turned  over  to  the  new  owners  the  next  day. 

We  were  all  sitting  in  front  of  the  office,  smoking, 
when  Sherman  said: 

''Some  one  has  been  stealing  high  grade  from  that 
cross  lead  on  the  tunnel  level,  and  I  placed  Hennessey 
at  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  to  prevent  anybody  from 
going  in  there,  until  the  property  is  formally  turned 
over.  We  encountered  the  ore  this  evening/' 

A  few  moments  later  he  arose,  and  said: 

"Believe  I  will  go  down  and  see  him — tell  him  if 
anybody  does  appear,  not  to  lose  his  temper,  or  do 
anything  rash." 

"I  tank  I  go,  too,"  said  Larsen,  rising.  I  wanted 
to  accompany  him,  but  he  said  "No,"  and  motioned 
Larsen  to  his  seat. 

"I  will  go  alone,"  and  a  moment  later  he  was  on 
the  Trail. 

''Better  go  down  through  the  shaft,"!  shouted. 

"This  is  all  right.  I'll  be  back  shortly."  A  moment 
later  his  form  became  a  shadow  and  then  blended  with 
the  moonlight. 

We  were  listening  to  one  of  the  foreign  engineers 
telling  a  story  of  South  Africa,  when  we  were  startled 


Page  120  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

by  a  shot,  and  we  all  sprang  up,  trying  to  locate  the 
direction  from  which  the  sound  came.  A  moment  later 
the  office  telephone  bell  rang  violently.  The  mine  was 
connected  by  a  telephone  system,  and  we  maintained 
our  own  "central."  The  continuous  ringing  ;vas  from 
the  mouth  of  the  tunnel. 

"Sherman  has  been  shot !"  was  the  cry  that  went  up. 

"Sherman  has  been  shot!"  echoed  through  the 
mine. 

In  an  instant  pandemonium  reigned. 

We  rushed  to  the  shaft  house,  and  as  many  as  pos 
sible  crowded  on  the  cage,  and  were  dropped  to  the 
tunnel  level.  Men  deserted  their  work  in  the  mine. 
The  top  men  were  going  down  the  ladders,  the  tram 
mers,  single  j  ackers  and  machine  men  were  literally 
falling  down  the  manway,  and  each  drift  was  pouring 
men  out  into  the  main  working  way.  The  cages  and 
pump  men,  everybody  except  the  man  at  the  hoisting 
engine,  ceased  to  work.  The  alarm  spread  to  the 
bunk  house,  and  soon  250  angry  miners  were  swarm 
ing  down  the  mountainside  to  the  portal  of  the  tunnel. 

The  telephone  operator  remained  at  his  post.  He 
called  up  all  the  local  doctors  and  told  them  to  come 
up  on  the  tram — Sherman  had  been  shot.  Then  he 


Sherman's  Tragic  Death  Page  121 

called  up  Powers,  and  told  him  to  bring  up  three 
doctors  from  the  county  seat,  celebrated  surgeons  who 
were  visiting  there  and  whom  the  local  physicians  had 
recommended.  Then  he  called  up  the  dispatcher  and 
arranged  to  have  an  engine  detached  from  an  outgoing 
ore  train,  and  coupled  to  a  day  coach,  to  bring  the 
surgeons  to  the  mine.  Within  twenty  minutes  the 
little  narrow  gauge  engine  commenced  its  race  with 
death. 

Hordes  of  men,  mad  with  excitement,  were  rushing 
pellmell  through  the  tunnel.  Some  were  armed  with 
pieces  of  drill  steel,  some  with  hammers,  all  with  some 
thing,  when  we  saw  a  light,  and  met  Hennessey  carry 
ing  Sherman  in  his  arms.  There  was  a  small  stain  of 
blood  on  his  shirt  front.  He  was  very  white. 

"Nothing  much,"  he  said,  faintly.  "Just  a  little 
accident.  BUBCHrft  LfefftTf 

Never  did  old  man  Crandell  handle  the  hoisting 
engine  more  carefully  than  he  did  that  night,  when  he 
raised  us  through  1,200  feet  of  shaft,  with  Sherman. 

A  physician  was  waiting  for  us  as  the  cage  came 
through  the  collar,  while  the  place  was  filled  with  awe- 
stricken  men,  who  silently  watched  us  carry  Sherman 
out,  across  the  dump,  to  the  bedroom  adjoining  his 
office.  While  he  had  not  uttered  a  sound  of  complaint, 


Page  122  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

it  was  plain  that  he  was  suffering  greatly,  and  one  of 
the  physicians  administered  morphine. 

Hennessey  laid  him  on  the  bed,  and  turned  to 
leave,  when  Sherman  said : 

"Wait,  Hennessey — don't  leave  the  room  until  I 
tell  you  to." 

The  doctors  were  now  disrobing  him,  to  ascertain 
the  extent  of  his  injury,  and  we  stepped  out  onto  the 
porch.  As  we  did  so,  we  heard  the  barking  of  the 
locomotive,  bringing  the  visiting  surgeons,  in  the  gulch 
below.  Occasionally  it  whistled,  signaling  to  us  across 
the  silence  of  the  soft  moonlight. 

After  a  time,  one  of  the  physicians  came  out,  and, 
taking  me  aside,  said: 

"He  is  dying." 

I  passed  into  the  room,  to  find  Hennessey  on  his 
knees  beside  the  bed,  crying  like  a  child.  My  heart 
chilled. 

"Oh,  Sherman,"  he  sobbed,  "I  didn't  know  it  was 
you  when  I  shot." 

The  words  made  me  sick  at  heart.  Sherman  put  a 
finger  to  his  lips,  and  glanced  at  me.  Then : 

"You  have  sent  for  Powers?"  inquiringly. 

"Yes." 

"I  want  to  see  him  as  soon  as  he  arrives." 


Sherman's  Tragic  Death  Page  123 

The  presence  of  the  physicians,  the  consultation  in 
the  other  room,  the  noise  of  the  narrow  gauge  engine 
as  it  screamed  around  the  sharp  curves  in  the  gulch, 
were  enough  to  warn  him. 

"The  physicians  have  not  told  me  so — but  I  know 
that  I  am  dying.  Powers  will  fix  a  few  things  for  me 
— particularly  this  unfortunate  affair  of  Hennessey's 
— it  was  all  my  fault." 

Then  we  heard  the  tram  start  and  stop  suddenly 
several  times,  as  Powers  and  the  visiting  surgeons 
were  placed  in  the  buckets.  Then  the  brakes  were 
slipped,  and  the  great  wire  ropes  were  allowed  to  race 
around  the  drums  faster  than  ever  before,  in  the  hurry 
to  bring  relief.  The  surgeons  were  the  first  to  step 
from  the  buckets — Powers  last.  I  explained  matters 
hastily  as  we  hurried  to  the  office. 

An  hour  later,  the  examination  had  been  com 
pleted.  Sherman  demanded  to  know  the  verdict.  The 
surgeons  agreed  that  he  could  not  live. 

"Can  nothing  be  done?"  asked  Sherman,  evenly, 
without  betraying  emotion. 

"Nothing,"  was  the  answer.  "We  might  operate 
—but  it  would  be  fatal." 

"How  long  can  I  live  ?" 

"Not  to  exceed  two  hours." 


Page  124  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

"Very  well ;"  a  glance  to  the  bookkeeper ;  "get  a 
receipt  in  full  from  the  doctors,  and  make  out  checks 
for  them.  Likewise  the  payroll,  up  to  and  including 
the  first  of  the  month.  Call  in  all  the  men." 

When  as  many  as  possible  had  crowded  into  the 
bedroom  and  office,  he  said: 

"I  want  every  man  to  do  as  I  shall  ask  him.  To- 
night  I  sent  Hennessey  to  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  to 
watch  for  high-graders.*  I  told  him  to  let  no  one 
enter  the  portal  of  the  bore.  Later  I  went  down  my 
self.  While  stumbling  over  the  slide  rock,  I  did  not 
hear  his  challenge,  and  as  I  turned  in  by  the  old  tool 
house  I  stepped  into  the  shadow — a  suspicious  move 
ment — and  he  fired  at  me.  I  spoke  then — but  it  was 
too  late.  He  was  right.  I  was  wrong.  The  fault  was 
all  mine.  I  want  you  to  draw  up  a  statement  to  that 
effect,  Powers,  and  have  everybody  within  sound  of 
my  voice  sign  it,  under  oath.  Then  I  want  you  to  go 
into  court  and  clear  Hennessey." 

Glancing  toward  the  men,  he  added,  in  an  author 
itative  tone : 

"And  mind  you — no  violence  toward  my  friend 
Hennessey — remember — my  friend." 

*A  term  used  in  the  mines  for  a  man  who  steals  rich  ore. 


Sherman's  Tragic  Death  Page  125 

Then  Sherman  turned  to  business.  He  called  in 
and  turned  over  to  the  visiting  engineers  the  Consoli 
dated  property — for  it  had  been  sold  for  a  fabulous 
sum  to  a  foreign  syndicate. 

Sherman's  last  moments  were  spent  in  signing 
checks.  Everybody  about  the  mine  was  remembered 
— this  in  a  lump  sum,  which  Powers  was  to  distribute. 
Hennessey  was  given  $5,000.  Sherman  filled  out, 
signed  and  sealed  in  an  envelope  a  check,  which  he 
handed  to  Powers,  with  the  statement: 

"Open  that  tomorrow,  old  man." 

Letters  he  dictated  were  signed,  papers  Powers 
prepared  received  his  signature  and  were  acknowl 
edged,  in  the  presence  of  more  than  100  witnesses, 
and  when  he  had  finished  there  remained  of  his  vast 
fortune  not  a  penny — he  had  given  it  all  away,  and  in 
a  manner  that  touched  our  hearts  and  caused  the  tears 
to  well  up  in  the  eyes  of  every  man  present. 

Then  Sherman  told  the  following  pathetic  story: 

"Perhaps  I  have  appeared  grasping  to  most  of  you. 
It  was  necessary,  however,  to  accomplish  my  end.  If 
I  had  not  been,  it  would  not  have  been  possible  to  do 
what  I  have  done  here,  tonight. 

"When  I  was  a  child,  I  was  left  with  a  little  sister 
mere  baby,  younger  than  I  was.  I  was  a  trifle 


Page  126 The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

over  eight,  she  but  four.  We  were  destitute.  We  were 
not  even  permitted  to  follow  to  the  grave  the  mother 
who  comforted  us,  who  was  buried  in  the  pauper's 
field,  and  the  record  of  whose  burial  was  lost.  I  was 
a  great,  hulking  boy — she  a  frail  child,  slight  and 
sickly.  There  is  no  use  living  over  those  months  of 
torment.  She  grew  weaker.  I  could  not  get  proper 
medical  treatment,  could  not  afford  sufficient  food — 
she  was  actually  dying  from  lack  of  nourishment — lit 
erally  starving  to  death.  Well-fed,  sleek  authorities  of 
charitable  institutions  to  whom  I  appealed,  men  ve 
neered  with  stiff  shirt  bosoms  and  benevolent  faces 
that  concealed  religious  hypocrisy,  told  me  they  would 
investigate.  These  men  permitted  a  worthy  child  to 
die  at  their  feet  while  I  was  knocking  at  their  hearts 
for  aid.  I  worked  day  and  night,  at  anything,  and, 
why  should  they  care?  A  kind  old  woman  told  them 
she  was  taking  care  of  the  child.  Kind — she  took  my 
money,  and  little  attention  Elsie  received.  I  stole  her 
away — the  police  brought  us  back,  and  I  was  threat 
ened  with  arrest  if  I  tried  it  again.  Well,  she  died,  I 
believe,  of  starvation.  The  day  before  I  walked  into 
a  great  banking  house  and  told  my  story  to  a  man 
there.  I  touched  his  heart,  and  he  loaned  me  money — 
only  a  few  dollars,  but  it  came  too  late.  When  I  re- 


Sherman's  Tragic  Death  Page  127 

turned,  he  went  with  me,  and  buried  my  sister.  I 
saved  my  pennies,  and  repaid  that  debt,  and  at  that 
tender  age  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would  do  what 
I  could  to  relieve  the  condition  of  helpless  children 
similarly  situated. 

"I  was  a  good  trader  and  I  made  money,  in  my 
way.  My  bank  account  grew.  My  friend  was  ad 
vanced  in  the  bank,  became  cashier,  and  then  president 
of  the  institution.  We  grew  to  be  great  friends.  He 
was  the  man  who  held  all  of  my  interests  in  trust  for 
the  amount  I  owed  him,  which  made  me  proof  against 
judgment.  He  was  the  man  who  loaned  me  money  to 
tide  over  so  many  tight  places.  He  was  my  best 
friend,  and  once  I  saved  his  bank  from  failure. 

"You  have  heard  these  letters  and  you  know  that 
my  money  has  gone  to  the  organization  of  a  home  to 
which  any  hungry,  dirty  child  of  the  street  may  turn 
and  obtain  food,  and  where  the  sick  receive  succor  and 
the  weary  comfort,  where  the  attendants  are  paid  a 
salary  for  being  good,  and  not  for  wearing  a  mantle 
of  charity  to  conceal  a  selfish  disposition. 

"I  have  planned,  and  schemed,  and  stinted  myself, 
with  this  end  in  view,  for  it  has  been  my  mission.  I 
never  accepted  an  invitation  to  a  home,  I  never  was 
familiar  with  men,  for  fear  I  would  forget  my  duty, 


Page  128  The  Mystery  of  Bonanza  Trail 

as  I  had  mapped  it  out,  for  fear  I  would  relax  my  vigi 
lance  in  the  pursuit  of  the  dollar.  Dollars  have  formed 
the  wheels  of  my  existence,  and  through  them  my  life 
is  about  to  pass  away,  and  out  of  them  the  fabric  of  my 
work  is  just  emerging. 

"I  am  quite  poor  now — in  fact,  a  pauper  again.  In 
a  few  moments  I  shall  have  passed  Beyond.  I  want 
you  to  bury  me  as  I  have  lived — simply  and  plainly. 
Get  the  mine  carpenter  to  knock  a  rough  box  together, 
and  bury  me  up  on  the  ridge,  in  sight  of  Ascension 
Mountain. 

"My  life  may  not  have  been  charitable — I  may  have 
ground  others  down — I  may  have  paved  a  path  for  my 
soul  that  leads  straight  down  to  the  bottomless  pit  of  a 
burning  hell,  but  if  I  have,  the  sacrifice  will  be  small  on 
my  part,  and  will  be  more  than  compensated  for  by  the 
joy  it  will  bring  to  the  homeless  waifs  who  may  live  to 
grow  to  be  useful  men  and  women,  through  the  fruits 
of  my  labor." 

A  few  moments  later  and  he  had  passed  to  the 
other  side. 

We  buried  him  as  he  wished,  in  a  rough  pine  box, 
which  was  lined  with  black  cloth.  The  rude  coffin  was 
lowered  into  a  grave  made  in  the  rocks,  on  the  ridge 
of  the  continent,  and  that  night  God  covered  his  bed 
with  a  soft  mantle  of  snow. 


